


the colors I see in you.

by wandererghost



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:28:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26688925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wandererghost/pseuds/wandererghost
Summary: Josie Saltzman was able to see so many colors throughout her siphoning, she could even see and sense people's auras perfectly.But one person's aura in particular, fascinated her the most.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Josie Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 71
Kudos: 471





	1. Chapter 1

Josie Saltzman loved every aspect of being a witch.

Most of all, she loved every aspect of being a _siphoner witch_. 

Lizzie hated it, she always had. Since they were old enough to understand what being a siphoner witch meant, Lizzie started to develop a resentment towards being a siphoner and having to rely on  _ other _ magical things or people to give  _ her _ magic. "I just want to have magic of my own without having to ask for it" She once said when they were both 8 years old and learning how to handle the power they possessed. 

Josie understood her sister, she sometimes wanted to have magic of her own too like the other witches in their school. Lizzie and her were the only two siphoners in the whole school, so yeah, they stood out among the witches. No one else was like them. And honestly, they haven't met another siphoner witch besides each other. 

So of course her sister would feel like that, she understood. But she also didn't share her point of view. Not now, not when she was 8 years old either, and probably would never.

Because Josie really loved being a siphoner witch. She loved the rush of energy she'd get everytime she siphoned, everytime she silently asked for the magical objects to give her some of their magic, to allow her to absorb it and when they did, when they gave their permission to be a litle bit drained directly from their magical core, Josie would get this amazing rush of unrestrained, raw and pure energy. However, Josie would get dizzy sometimes if she took a lot of magic, more than what she would be able to handle, but otherwise, she loved it. 

Also, what she loved the most, was being able to see and sense the energy pulsing through the school, through every magical thing and creature living in it. She could feel it beating. Like a heart. Like a living, sleeping creature. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there, breathing, present. 

Actually, scratch that. Josie did see it. 

She could see this magic just fine. 

Since she was old enough to understand the world, she has always been able to  _ see _ the magic. 

When she was little, she remembered asking her mother why she could see magic but her mother only said with a kind, understanding: 

"Because you're a siphoner witch, sweetie"

"Lizzie's a siphoner like me, and she doesn't see the magic" Josie had said.

"Lizzie is having a hard time with being a siphoner, maybe if she accepted it so easily just like you, she would see magic too" Caroline only said with a smile and then continued making them pancakes.

8-year-old Josie frowned and looked at her sister inspecting her stuffed animal with devotion. She knew her mom was wrong, because Josie was certain Lizzie didn't see magic like she did. She couldn't. If she saw magic like her, then how could she hate it? If it was so beautiful and colorful?

There was no way.

That thought stayed with her for a long, long time. While Lizzie kept developing her resentment towards siphoning, Josie could only grow to love it even more when the colors of the magic intensified and she could see it so clearly as she kept getting older and understanding more her abilities to siphon.

She almost always could see the colors of the energy she siphoned from magical things and creatures. Colors so vivid and beautiful. Colors so bright that not only made her feel happy, but the rush of energy and adrenaline she would get after siphoning would just be even more amazing. Every. Time. 

So one day, her sister was awfully complaining about a class and once again, siphoning and Josie couldn't take it anymore. She had to ask. She had to make sure Lizzie couldn't see colors like she did. 

When Lizzie just looked at her like she was some sort of freak and added: 

"What do you mean? There's a glowing red everytime we siphon but what  _ other _ colors, Jo?" 

...Josie finally confirmed that she was the only one that saw other colors when siphoning. And honestly, she didn't know how to feel about that. It was strange and unsettled her but she couldn't do anything about it, she didn't have another siphoner to ask and the adults just wouldn't get it, she knew her dad wouldn't and mom wasn't around that much, her teachers never talked about other colors regarding siphoning... so Josie let it be. It wasn't like the colors were dangerous and harming her at all, no. The colors were bright and beautiful. 

But then, when Josie was 13 years old, seeing colors not only appeared when she siphoned, but they appeared  _ everywhere _ she looked. At first, she only thought that living in a boarding school with nothing but supernatural creatures _burning_ with magic in their cores, she no longer needed to siphon to see the colors, but they were just there to let her know where the magic was. 

And she was right. That ability just kept growing, and she was able to see the whole school pulsing with magic in a bright and intense red. The walls and floors were decorated with lines, like veins, painted in red everywhere. A well designed web of little red and orange veins pulsing throughout the whole school. Beating. Letting her know all of the magic they had. She loved it, it didn't take her long to get used to seeing the school's magic.

Then, that's when seeing colors in people happened. She would see the students glowing and shining with different colors every now and then. Like little strings of colors, vibrating with energy. And all of them had different colors. Sometimes even more than just one color. Some people shone brighter than others. And one person in particular shone the brightest of all.

She thought the same, magical creatures, magical colors. But when she saw that her dad, absolutely and completely human, also shone in a light blue color, that's when she got totally scared.

Maybe there was something wrong? What could be wrong? She was used to seeing colors, that wasn't new in her life. She has always seen colors. But seeing them in people felt strange and now, seeing them in her father, a non-supernatural creature, scared her out of her mind. Was something wrong with her?

With that thought in mind, Josie called her aunt Bonnie. The only witch she was comfortable with asking these types of things. She had never told anyone else about the colors she saw, so when her aunt told her with a little amazed laugh:

"It's totally okay, kiddo. Seeing colors is normal to humans as well. Only that some humans have that ability more developed than others"

"I don't understand aunt Bonnie, humans also see all the colors that I do?" Josie had asked, sitting in her bed, Lizzie asleep next to her, and she was worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

Josie had been awake for hours, unable to go to sleep, and it was already past midnight. Probably Bonnie was asleep too before she called?

"Yes, sweetie…" Silence, and then. "But only some humans and not all of them. And definitely not in same way that you're describing it. Humans don't have that kind of sensitivity and intuition towards the world. Not even normal witches do" She said, Josie could tell that something was obviously heaving in her aunt's mind.

"What do you mean then? I'm a freak?"

"What? No! No, sweetie. Of course not. You're wonderful and amazing" Josie smiled, she really loved her aunt. "I'm just saying that perhaps you're more sensitive to see colors with such intensity because you're a witch.  _ A siphoner _ witch"

"Huh?"

"You told me that it started when you siphoned, then it slowly grew and now you see the colors in people as well? Right?"

Josie nodded, then remembered that she was only talking with her aunt through the phone and cleared her throat "Yes"

"That's okay, that's normal. It only means that your powers as a siphoner witch are only growing, and your ability to see more colors alongside it"

Josie frowned. "But Lizzie's a siphoner too and she doesn't see more colors"

"That's because she wasn't born with that gift, only you"

Josie nodded, processing the information. 

"Aunt?"

"Yes, sweetie?" She could sense her aunt's smile.

"What's that called? Being able to see those colors?" She frowned.

She was no longer worried about it, she was only exhausted from worrying too much before about it.

"The colors are named auras. You can look it up" Silence.

_ Auras _ .

Then, "...It's okay Josie. The fact that you are able to see them with such intensity makes you even more wonderful than you already are. Now go to sleep honey, it's past midnight already and you have classes tomorrow"

"Alright, thank you auntie. Good night!" Josie had said, still thinking about the word her aunt provided her with.  _ Auras. Auras. Auras. Auras. Auras. _

"Night sweetie" 

When Bonnie hung up though, Josie couldn't go to sleep. Now she had a name for the colors.  _ Auras _ . And she could look it up, she could read and investigate and educate herself on all the colors she could see. 

So that's what she did. That night she didn't sleep at all. Instead, she spent the whole time in the library, reading anything and everything she could find about auras. About what they meant. About all the different colors and their meaning.

By morning she had it all memorized also, black bags under her eyes and desire to drink coffee the whole day, but oh well. Now Josie knew what it meant when she saw her best friend, MG, shining with a green and sometimes blue light around him. It just meant that his energies were loving, caring, and compassionate. That he liked to help others, he had great knowledge about things and even wisdom?

_ That's nice.  _ Josie thought and it made her smile because it was true, and the fact that she could see her best friend's energy in such pretty colors made her feel happy and content. Knowing what his energy meant.

But after realizing that, now she couldn't help but to interpret people's energies, people's  _ auras _ . 

Lizzie shone in a bright magenta. A being with so high of an energy, creative, that doesn't follow the rest but herself and her own steps.  _ Yeah, that's accurate. _

So, Josie just kept learning more and more about auras. She was 13 then and no longer scared of auras. Only fascinated at their friend's colors. 

But one person's aura in particular kept silently asking for her attention. It was so… strange that Josie couldn't help but stare everytime she could. 

Josie was sitting in the library, and if she was casually positioned to stare at one Hope Marshall, sitting right in the far corner curled up in a loveseat, reading a book with her headphones on... then that was a coincidence. 

Josie could see all of her colors. Orange, yellow, blue, green. All of them dancing with each other in a harmonious way, shining so bright that everytime that Hope was in the room, Josie couldn't sense anyone else's colors but hers. It amazed her, how much Hope shines even though she's just reading a book in a corner all alone.

Josie knew that normally, Hope was shy, and kept only to herself. She didn't have friends. Or at least that's what Josie thought beacuse she barely saw the girl with anyone else. Hope's always alone, reading or with her headphones on. Not talking to anyone only when it's necessary for her to. Still, out of all the people in the school, she outshined the rest. Definitely. And that kept Josie fascinated. Always looking for her, always staring at her. 

Sometimes Hope even caught her staring and her cheeks would turn as red as her hair, usually she would raise an eyebrow and question Josie's staring with her pretty blush adorning her face but Josie just smiled and (okay, blushed as hell at being caught staring at Hope by none other than Hope herself) turned away.

So Josie maybe developed a crush on Hope Marshall, so what? Out of all the people in the school, Hope, her personality and her colors only captivated Josie even more every day. Josie didn't understand how Hope could shine so bright and it intrigued her. She didn't understand how Hope was the prettiest girl she had ever seen and it caused butterfllies in her stomach. She didn't understand why she could never approach Hope and just start a damn conversation with her without feeling flustered and like a nervous mess. So everytime Hope caught her staring, Josie blushed and walked away, not ready at all to even say hello.

But Hope's colors changed. And one day, when Hope was away for three long weeks and then returned to the school again, those bright and intense colors that Josie loved so much to see, were gone. 

There was no longer blue with her, no longer yellow or bright orange. Josie didn't even know if Hope was still shining with the colors that accompanied her now. Instead of bright blue that usually meant calm and intuitive, a dark gray replaced it. Instead of the warm and cozy orange that meant that her energy was always adventurous and creative, there was a dimmer tone, a darker and lifeless orange. A red so dark that almost looked black. Josie missed her favorite: yellow. Before, Hope used to be cheerful and lighter.

Granted, there were few times you would see her smiling or laughing, but Josie knew she was cheerful and carefree. She knew it by the way Hope's smile made her eyes look like half-moons and her cheeks like two rosy apples anytime she would read something that made her happy, or when she thought no one was listening to her so she started to quietly sing whatever song she was listening to through her headphones. 

Josie knew Hope, even though she never talked to the girl before, Josie always seemed to pay attention to her. Besides, her colors used to outshine everyone else. How could she not notice her? How could not anyone? Hope always stood out in her life, that meant something right?

But when Hope returned, none of those colors returned with her. Also, neither did her last name. Josie learned that it wasn't Marshall, but Mikaelson. As in, the Great Evil's daughter. 

Josie only knew that Hope's parents passed away and that her name was Mikaelson now. She learned that Hope was also a wolf, and one that had triggered her werewolf side, which made her a tribrid now, having vampire blood in her veins too. 

That's all Josie knew about what happened to Hope. The girl with the brightest colors Josie had ever seen, didn't even shine at all.

It made her sad, way too sad to see those darker shades now, and Josie wanted so desperately for the colors she used to see every day and absolutely adored to return. 

But the fact is, two years have passed since that. Josie was now 15, and Hope's aura colors never returned. 

Hope isolated herself even more, darkening what once used to be beautiful colors that only Josie was able to see.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i couldn't stop thinking about this.
> 
> also, my first language isn't english so sorry for any grammatical or syntactic mistake you may find?

Josie spent months and months still learning about this new ability she had. She never asked for it, but she was grateful to have it and see the world with all its magical beauty. 

Sometimes it was ugly though. It was ugly in the way she could so vividly experience nightmares that would leave her panting and searching for her twin's comfort cuddles in the middle of the night, silently crying due to being overwhelmed.

It was ugly in the way she could sense when someone was sad or crying, when someone felt miserable or on edge. Because she was a siphoner, she was not only sensitive to absorb magic, but Josie found out that she was also sensitive to sense people's mood as well and  _ that _ made it ugly. 

Because she was always living with moody teenagers all the time. 

Whenever someone was mad, upset or sad, they gave off those energies like anyone would with a perfume and it would hit Josie with strong emotional waves. Making her anxious and overwhelmed all of a sudden in the middle of breakfast. 

It left her tired and exhausted the whole day when that happened. 

Especially when Lizzie had episodes. 

Lizzie affected her the most, because overall, Lizzie could be an emotional person, and when she had those so called "episodes" she would lose it, and be extremely sad or extremely upset... with nothing to pour all those energies into but Josie herself. So Josie accidentally made it her job to always make sure her sister was okay, that she didn't experience more episodes that would shatter her energies. 

And if she did, then Josie wouldn't complain. She would absorb or  _ siphon _ her sister's energies if she had learned how to do that by now. She hasn't though. She's still learning how to siphon not only people's magic, but energies as well. But until that day comes along, she's fine with being Lizzie's emotional punching bag whenever she was upset. 

It was fine, even though every morning after one of Lizzie's episodes, she would look in the mirror and find out that her own energies were low and dim. Just a little tiny string of yellow and pink, just a tiny green. Granted, she didn't need a mirror to see her own aura. She just had to  _ be _ and all the exhaustion would make itself known.

It was fine, it was okay. Josie really didn't mind. She had these gifts, it must be for a reason and if that reason was to help the people she loved the most, how could she not do it then?

Some people called it codependency. Josie didn't argue with them.

But not everything was ugly. Actually, if Josie had to balance it, she would say that 70% of the time, having this ability made seeing the world more beautiful. 

Beautiful when her sister was undeniably happy and her pretty magenta and orange colors mixed and expanded so much that created kind of a mist around her and the people she was with. Beautiful when MG's blue and green made everything seem to be calm and peaceful, like he was listening and paying attention, as if everything was going to be okay. Her mom's yellow always made her so happy and bubbly and then she would be bouncing and singing and smiling non-stop.

But mostly, it was beautiful when she felt connected and attuned to nature. To magic. To energies so strong and pure that seemed almost divine. As if the gods themselves carefully crafted them. Josie found those energies in plants, trees, in the sun, the rain. Whenever nature was the strongest, she sensed their immediate and raw power. 

Also, she was awfully aware of her own energies, her own dominant bright pink and bright yellow aura. 

And she was awfully aware of what they meant. Usually, bright pink meant that she was the peacemaker, the caretaker, the one that always made sure everything was okay, that their friends and family were always in a good place, mentally and emotionally so that their auras could shine. It meant that she was kind and patient. He yellow meant she was joyful and overall, a happy person. 

But at being so intuitive, her aura changed when other people's auras changed or were too strong, and hers would usually be dimmer or brighter if they got affected by others'. 

It was dangerous for her to be so defenseless, so adaptable to others. And she only allowed Lizzie to have that kind of power.

That's why her aunt, Bonnie, made her an inhibitor bracelet. 

Josie hated her inhibitor. She hated it. It blocked the world from magic, from colors, from energies. It blocked it all. But also, gave her peace, gave her stability over her own emotions, her own aura. Whenever she was wearing her inhibitor, she stopped seeing colors, she kept siphoning magic but it didn't feel amazing; the energies that went through her felt blocked and restrained. She couldn't see people's auras so clearly. She couldn't sense their emotions. She couldn't know if they were happy or sad, if they needed to be cheered up or not. 

Sometimes though, she was grateful for having an inhibitor whenever she saw Hope. Josie didn’t know why she always paid so much attention to the Mikaelson girl if she wasn’t shining anymore. At first, she tought it was only because her aura was too strong, but now... there was just something about her, something that irked Josie so much and she didn’t know  _ what _ . 

Hope's aura remained the same. Dimmer and darker, while Hope only put on a mask and faced the world with a blank expression. Still without friends, still keeping to herself. 

One day though, something in her aura visibly changed and the moment that Josie saw it, she gasped loudly enough that the students around her (including Hope) just looked at her like she was having a stroke or something but Josie couldn't help it, it was the first time that she saw something like that happen in someone's aura. 

The colors were still dark, that's for sure, but Hope had two bright streaks of light adorning it now.

So Josie, of course, didn't stop until she knew what they meant and when she found out, it caused her eyes to be watery and her smile to be of sadness. Hope's two streaks of light meant that there was something divine, something spiritually guiding her, being with her, never leaving her alone. Josie knew what it was. Of course she knew. Those two streaks of light meant that Hope was somehow summoning the energies of her parents, therefore, they came and stayed with her, always. 

Now everytime that she saw Hope, she could see Hope's own aura dark but the two streaks always remained with her, shining as bright as she herself used to. 

Josie wanted to tell her, especially those times when she saw Hope all alone in a corner, focusing on whatever thing she was reading. 

Lizzie would say something like:

"Oh my god, there she is again. Brooding" She would huff and then add: "I mean, we get it, she's sad, big deal, we're teenagers, we're all sad" 

But Josie wanted to say that Hope wasn't just  _ sad _ , that wouldn't even be close to what Hope was feeling. Josie could sense that Hope was not only sad, but she felt like… like Josie felt when she was wearing her inhibitor and couldn't see magic anymore. Abandoned. Alone. Like, something was supposed to be there but it wasn't so there's only this empty and cold feeling of  _ knowing _ it isn't. 

She wanted to approach her and say something along the lines of: "I know how you're feeling and I know you miss them but I want you to know that they're with you  _ all the time _ and you're not alone. Please shine like they and honestly, I, want you to" 

Then, of course, as the rational person she is, she absolutely discarded that idea. Like, how could she approach Hope, the girl that Josie had  _ barely _ said hello to in her entire life? and just tell her that? No way. Then Hope would say something like:  _ Who are you? Why are you talking to me? _ And the question that Josie dreaded the most:  _ How do you know this? _

Because truth be told, no one knew about her abilities. No one, other than Bonnie, Lizzie and her parents, knew that she could see and sense magic other than just siphoning, that she was so intuitive that she could also see people's aura so clearly. Not even MG knew, her absolute best friend, and she was going to tell Hope?  _ Hope?  _ No. Way.

Besides, what would she say to Hope? " _ Oh, it's just because… you know I'm a siphoner witch, right? yeah right well I-I see people's auras too and you have like these, um, lights now? around you? they weren't there before and they're really pretty. I found out they meant that you're guarded and accompanied by spiritual entities so I just deduced they were… um, your parents? Cause you know, they passed awa- I'm Josie by the way, hi… Okay um bye"  _

Nope. No way in heaven or hell she was going to do that. 

Of course, apparently the universe had other plans because one sunday night when she was too tired of the week, classes, homework and spending the whole damn week using her inhibitor bracelet; Josie decided to go for a walk and then to her favorite place in the school (the dock) just sit there, take her bracelet off and absorb their unrestrained magic for a while. 

Only that when she got there, Hope was already sitting on one of the benches, hugging her knees. A duffel bag next to her. Josie froze and immediately wanted to turn away, her inhibitor was already off so she could clearly see the dimmer and dark colors of Hope’s aura, the only light coming from the streaks that were even more intense now. 

It was too late to turn back though, Hope had already turned around and made eye contact with her, offering a sweet smile. 

So Josie didn’t see how she could just turn away now and not come off as rude, not when Hope’s energy was inviting her to join her. Truly, it surprised Josie to be hit with those waves, usually she didn’t need her ability to tell when Hope wanted to be alone but here she was, silently asking Josie to join her, inviting her if Josie wanted it too. So that’s what Josie did.

She quietly approached and sat on the bench Hope was sitting on, careful in keeping a respectful distance and trying to not just turn around and face her. She swallowed and lowered her head, catching the sight of the bracelet in her hands. Maybe she should put it back on? She didn’t want to feel like she was intruding in Hope’s emotions without her knowing. Hope had already come here to be by herself, obviously she didn’t want to share whatever she was feeling with someone else. 

‘’You’re not wearing your bracelet’’ Hope noticed, looking at Josie’s bracelet too on her hands, her voice so low and so sweet, like if speaking too loud would ruin the quiet and calm of the night.

‘’I… I took it off’’ Josie said, rapidly searching for an excuse as to why. 

Hope smiled, clearly amused ‘’I noticed’’ She nodded.

‘’It itched’’ Josie blurted out. 

‘’Okay’’ Hope chuckled. 

Wait, now Josie had so many questions. Did Hope also notice Josie as much as Josie noticed Hope, for her to know that she rarely took her bracelet off?

‘’Why um… Why are you here?’’ Josie carefully asked. She could tell that Hope had something in her mind and if she was seeing and sensing correctly, Hope wasn’t putting her walls up this time. Strangely enough, Josie could feel that Hope was open with her emotions if those were the waves that Josie has been getting.

Hope cleared her throat after briefly looking at Josie with a little sad smile and far away eyes. ‘’I told your dad I wanted to wolf out, so that’s what I did’’ She looked at the lake one more time before looking back at Josie again. ‘’I came here because this place gives me peace, but it’s all yours now. I’ll be heading back’’ She concluded with a soft voice.

Josie nodded, noticing how the normally dark green seemed to flash a little bit, just a little bit brighter. 

Hope still had some of those bright lights somewhere inside her, she still had energy enough, magic enough. And Josie knew it wasn’t her job to make Hope feel happy again, it was only Hope’s job to do so, only Hope’s job to make herself be happy again… But it wouldn’t hurt if Josie tried to contribute just a little in the process, right? 

It seemed right, she already had an ability that made her sense and see life with beautiful energies and colors, maybe if she just tried, could she help Hope to see life as Josie saw it?


	3. Chapter 3

Next time Josie saw Hope after their little encounter at the dock, they were in the halls. It was morning and they were heading to the dining hall for breakfast.

Josie's inhibitor was back on her wrist again, blocking the world from magical colors and energies. Just plain old, normal world as other people surely saw it. 

Josie had her arm intertwined with Lizzie's as they walked down the hall, but when they were about to turn a corner, Hope was about to do so as well in the opposite direction and they inevitably collided. They backed up immediately and when Josie noticed that it was Hope that she collided with, her cheeks turned red and she internally prayed for it not to be too obvious.

"Watch where you're going," Lizzie advised indifferently at Hope.

At the same time Hope muttered a: "Sorry" with a tight smile directed towards Josie before walking away. 

Josie just nodded and avoided Lizzie's questioning eyes all the way to the dining hall.

That day, Josie couldn't stop thinking about Hope. And it wasn't like she was actively thinking about the Mikaelson girl, Hope would just be present in her mind, Josie could feel it. And then, when she realized that she was accidentally thinking about Hope, she would proceed to be actively thinking about her, it frustrated her. 

\----

Few days later, Josie was in the dining hall, it was evening and their dad gathered them all together so he could say some announcements before dinner. He did (barely got any attention from the students though) and then left, leaving all of them in the dining hall to have dinner together, which was usually weird cause they only used the dining hall for breakfast or lunch, hardly ever they used it for dinner as well. 

So Josie was sitting between MG and Lizzie, forced to witness some form of debate they had going on about Greek Mythology while unconsciously looking for auburn-hair among the students. Back when Josie didn't have her inhibitor, she used to easily spot Hope whenever she was in the room, her colors were brighter than anyone else's and Josie didn't have to look for too long to find her. But now, with her inhibitor on and Hope's dark colors, there was no way for her to know if she was in the room or not. 

She sighed, focusing her eyes on the plate of food in front of her. Why did she care so much? Why couldn't she stop  _ thinking  _ about her?

"What do you think about Hope?" Josie said, interrupting MG's speech.

They both looked at her, Lizzie just raised an eyebrow questioningly and MG just stayed in silence. Why was she asking about this? Josie cleared her throat and glanced at her bracelet. "I mean, I just notice that she's alone most of the time and maybe we could invite her to join us? Would you guys be okay with that?" 

When she looked up again, Lizzie was wearing a cheshire smile and her eyes shone with mischief. "Well I'll be damned" Her smile only grew, if that was even possible. "You finally admit it out loud"

Josie frowned, "Admit  _ what _ out loud?"

"That you have a little obsession with our designated lonely tribrid" She concluded, fully confident in her statement. 

"What?! What are you talking about? I do not have an obsession with Hope" Josie said defensively and started to nervously play with her bracelet under the table, avoiding her sister's eyes. 

"Of course you do" Lizzie continued, rolling her eyes. "Do you think I haven't noticed you staring at her and drooling since we were like 13? Honestly Jo, I'm surprised and a little bit disappointed that you never actually confided in me with this" 

"I don't have an obsession with Hope, Lizzie" Josie gripped her bracelet tighter and looked at her sister with a frown. 

"Why would you be asking about her then?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Oh right, sorry, I forgot the times you'd never shut up about how her aura was the most interesting thing you'd ever seen. See? Normal obsessional behavior" 

The two stayed looking at each other, Lizzie raising an eyebrow in defiance and Josie was still frowning, fiddling with her bracelet until MG nervously laughed next to Lizzie. 

"Alright," He said, chuckling. "It's okay if you have a little crush on Hope, Jo. And I, for one, wouldn't mind sitting with her"

"But I don't" Josie was fiddling with her bracelet so much now that she accidentally unclipped it and it fell off her wrist, landing on the floor.

That's when all of the energies of the students accumulated in just one single room hit Josie like hundreds of waves. She could sense herself beginning to panic, too many emotions were hitting her at the same time. 

Anger, because some boys in the table on her left were arguing about something Josie did not care about but couldn't help but feel the anger.

Sadness, cause she sensed that a witch behind her was starting to silently cry. Also, comforted because the girl's friends were hugging her.

Restless, the majority of the students were finished already with their meals and were hanging out, talking, laughing, flirting. 

Josie could sense all of them. All of the emotions and energies in the air. It was like she was in a perfumery and all of the employees randomly decided to spread every perfume's fragrance in the air at the same time, mixing them all up. 

She was wide-eyed and not focusing on anything in particular, just staring at all the colors that were assaulting her vision. It was giving her a migraine and she was starting to feel nauseous, Josie could tell that if she spent another few minutes in the dining hall, she would throw up. 

But it all abruptly stopped when she felt a hand clasping around her wrist and then holding her hand. Josie blinked a few times and noticed that it was Lizzie, sitting next to her. 

"Are you okay?" 

She slowly nodded. Also noticing that her bracelet was in her right wrist again. 

"I-" Josie couldn't finish her sentence because even though it all stopped, the nausea didn't and she felt the urge to throw up.

She stood up and ran to the nearest bathroom, not caring that she opened the door with all of her strength and not even checking for empty stalls, she just barged in and let it all out once she found a toilet. Feeling disgusted with herself after and wanting to take a long, cleansing shower, Josie stood up and opened the stall's door.

Maybe Josie should've checked the bathroom first though, cause the sight of Hope, leaning against the sink and looking at her with a somewhat concerned expression caught her off guard. Did Hope listen to  _ all of that? _ God, now she felt even more disgusted.

"I-I'm sorry" She weakly muttered.

Hope tilted her head. "What are you apologizing for?"

Josie opened and then closed her mouth again, What could she say anyway? So she settled for shrugging and then approached the sink, awfully aware of Hope, still in the same place while Josie washed her hands and mouth… twice. She really needed to brush her teeth though. 

"Are you okay?" Hope asked, casually ogling Josie.

"Yeah… just-" 

_ Had a breakdown in the dining hall no biggie what about you? _

"Just something I ate" She lied, avoiding eye contact.

Under the corner of her eyes she could see Hope nodding while drying her hands with a paper towel. This was weird, right? Josie had barely talked to Hope her entire life, just a few  _ hellos _ and  _ good mornings _ or  _ sorrys _ once in a while when they inevitably found themselves orbiting in the same space, never actually having a conversation. Yet, there was something. 

Yet, Josie felt this pull towards the older girl. Maybe it was the fact that they were relatively connected due to their parents' history. Like those kids whose parents are friends so they become friends as well. It made sense to Josie, their parents knew each other so they have to know each other too so that's why Josie wanted to be friends with Hope when she was a child, but Josie never found the courage to just approach her, besides, if Hope wanted to be friends with Josie then she would've approached her too right?

Then, Josie developed the ability to see auras and once again, found herself wanting to be close to Hope just so that she could experience for herself what was like to be within Hope's energy, in Hope's receiving end of her smiles and beautiful colors. But once again, never found the courage to, so she just stared at the girl hoping that Hope would be the one to approach her, to talk to her, to notice her. Except that when Hope did notice her, it seemed like she was expecting the same thing. So they danced around each other that way for a while, acknowledging each other but never actually making an effort to exchange more than stolen stares.

"...But I guess I'll just find someone else" Hope's voice brought Josie back to reality.

Josie blinked and focused her gaze on Hope, was she imagining it or was Hope nervously fidgeting with her rings? "I'm sorry, what?"

"Nevermind" She showed her one of her tight smiles again before dumping the paper towel on the trash. "Hope you feel better" 

After that Hope hurried back to the door and left, no even bothering to look back.

Josie got out of her daze the moment the door clicked shut and realization hit her. Hope had asked her something, but she was too inside her head to catch it. She groaned and splashed more water in her face.

One question still lingering: what had she asked?

\----

"Okay stop, I'm sorry alright?" Lizzie said, sitting on her own bed in their room, some books spread out in front of her but she was mindlessly scrolling through her phone until she sighed and looked at Josie. "I shouldn't have said those things to you in the dining hall. It wasn't right"

"No, it wasn't" Josie muttered. 

It was nighttime already and the twins were getting ready to go to bed. Lizzie had kept looking at Josie the entire time after she got back from the bathroom, pleading with her eyes for Josie to acknowledge her sister, but Josie just ignored her and kept ignoring her even in their own room. 

She didn't know why, but it bothered her that Lizzie thought she had an "obsession" with Hope. First of all, it wasn't an obsession. Second of all, she didn't want to share this  _ thing _ she felt towards the older girl, with Lizzie. She didn't want Lizzie to know. 

Besides, ignoring Lizzie was easy when all she could think about was Hope and her question that Josie couldn't catch.

"You shouldn't say things that aren't true, Lizzie, and you were this close" She brought her thumb and index finger together "Of shouting it in front of everyone in the dining hall, that would only spread rumours and I don't want Hope to be freaked out about that" 

Lizzie raised an eyebrow.

"Don't start" Josie rolled her eyes.

"Just admit it to me Josie" She tossed her phone aside and crossed her legs, putting a pillow on top of them. "You have always paid extra attention to Hope"

Well, that was true.

"And you kept talking about her literally all the time and that was only 2 or maybe 3 years ago?" She continued. "You kept talking to me about her like you knew her"

Josie only shrugged, not wanting to have this conversation at all, and much less with her sister. "2 years ago" She immediately added and then cringed. She wasn't helping her case. "But I don't know her" That felt like a lie. "I was just interested cause her aura's energy was really rare"

"Are you sure that's all there was?" 

Josie sighed and stood up from her bed, already done with the interview that Lizzie was apparently clearly enjoying.

"I'm gonna go grab something from the kitchen, do you want anything?", She asked instead.

Lizzie rolled her eyes and grabbed her phone again, "Some brownies. Make sure they're not burned though" 

  
  
  


The trip to the kitchen was uneventful, it was well into the night and most of the students were sleeping or in their bedrooms. Josie knew she was breaking curfew but having her dad as headmaster didn't feel like such a threat sometimes. 

While grabbing some cookies for her and brownies for Lizzie, her mind wandered to later that evening in the dining hall. 

She was somehow losing control of her abilities. They were growing too much and she couldn't do anything but keep her inhibitor on and pray for it not to fall off, cause when it did, her powers didn't feel as amazing anymore as they did a few years ago when she was only discovering them. Her abilities felt too wild now, too loud, too out of control, too overwhelming. They were growing but Josie wasn't growing with them, she didn't know how to control them, how to turn them off when she wanted.

It frustrated her, to not be able to enjoy it all the time like she did when she was younger. To not feel joy in it but instead, fear of her own powers.

She sighed, and this is how she pretended to somehow show them to Hope? By being scared of taking her bracelet off in fear of being assaulted by her heightened senses and enhanced vision? 

Speaking of Hope, Josie couldn't help but to keep wondering, to keep making herself remember what Hope had asked earlier. Was it important? Was it something about class? Did she need help with something? 

What if she did? Hope did say that she would find someone else? But for what?

Now Josie felt awful, what if Hope was asking for her help with something and she came off as rude? 

She grabbed the cookies and brownies, put them in a plastic bowl and without thinking too much about it, skipped the door to her bedroom and went straight to Hope's. But only after knocking and getting no response for a few seconds, she was just realizing that maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe she should just go back to her room and pretend like she never knocked on-

Only that the door swung open and there was Hope right in front of her, tilting her head and raising her eyebrows in confusion. Josie noticed that she wasn't wearing pajamas but jeans and a white jumper.

"Uh, hi?" She asked, even her voice sounded confused.

"Hi" Josie swallowed. What was she doing? "I, uh…"

She glanced at the bowl of cookies and brownies on her hands and swallowed again. She noticed that Hope followed her gaze and was now glancing at the bowl too, appearing even more confused at the sight of Josie with a bowl of cookies outside her door. 

"I was just wondering about what you said earlier in the bathroom? I'm sorry if I came off as rude, I wasn't, I was just too in my head that I couldn't hear what you had asked" Josie said rather fast and fought the urge to cringe at herself, she was rambling. "So I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't anything important. And if it wasn't then that's okay, I just… wanted to make sure?" 

And apparently she couldn't stop herself. 

Hope just stared at her, searching with her eyes Josie's own and when they locked, Josie felt shivers all over her body. Hope's stare was intense, it was heavy with masked emotions and unspoken words but they were guarded and uncertain. 

Josie didn't need to take her inhibitor off to tell that Hope was struggling with something right now and Josie just stumbled upon at the exact moment of. 

"Okay then well" She awkwardly said, lowering her eyes to the bowl. The cookies didn't seem appetizing anymore. "I guess I'll just… go. Have a good night"

She turned around and started walking until she heard a soft "Wait" 

When she faced Hope again, Hope avoided her eyes at all cost. "It is something important" 

"Okay" 

"And… I still might need someone" She hesitantly opened the door wider, making it clear to Josie that she was welcomed if she agreed.

Josie just nodded and walked past Hope. She would've lied if she said that she hasn't pictured Hope's room before, she imagined it to be full of colors too, like Hope's aura used to be, that it would have pictures or lights or things that were undeniably Hope's. 

What she found though after entering Hope's room for the first time ever, wasn't what she was expecting. Just like Hope's current aura, her room looked the same. Emptied of things, of decoration. Nothing was hanging from the walls. There were as many colors and furniture as the room came with, nothing else. Just a few boxes in a far corner of it, they looked full and as if they had accumulated dust on top of them.

But Josie didn't pay much attention to the boxes but at what was right at the center of Hope's room. She had a large mat on the floor with some lighted candles and stones lying around it. A map was in the middle of it. 

"I need your help with a spell" Hope casually said, as if doing magic so late at night for other reasons other than school homework wasn't a big deal.

"Yeah I can see that" Josie looked again at the stuff placed on the mat. "What kind of spell?"

Hope closed the door and slowly approached Josie, standing a few feet from her. Josie tried to ignore the fact that she was alone with Hope again, in  _ her _ room no less. 

Hope cleared her throat. "Does it matter?"

"Yes" She crossed her arms. "How else am I supposed to help you then?"

She had the room's lights turned off, the only light in the room was coming from her bedside lamp and the candles on the floor. Somehow it gave the room some sense of intimacy, as if they were the only two people that were awake in the entire school. It also gave Josie the need to take off her inhibitor and sense that heightened energy. 

Hope just shrugged and went to sit on one side of the mat, rearranging some stones. "We're doing an astral projection spell" She explained. "I need your help because I can't hold it for a long time if I'm alone"

"You've tried holding an astral projection for too long by yourself? That can be dangerous" Josie uncrossed her arms and followed Hope, sitting in front of her on the mat.

"I didn't have a choice" 

"Why not? You could've asked sooner" Josie pointed out. 

'It doesn't matter" She lifted her head and looked at Josie expectantly. "Are we doing this or not?" 

Josie set aside the bowl and nodded. Her heart was starting to beat a bit too fast for her liking. 

"You'll need to take my hands so you could siphon and still be anchored with me" She instructed.

Josie swallowed, she couldn't convince herself to keep her inhibitor on. She didn't want to this time, the prospect of siphoning from Hope without her inhibitor, to be in her room and in her presence again without it was too strong. So instead of keeping it on where it should be, she took it off for the second time that day.

Emotions and strong energies immediately hit her like a wave and she had to close her eyes for a moment to digest it all, to let her body attune to the energies that it was receiving. It wasn't like in the dining hall earlier, it was much different. She wasn't assaulted with a gigantic wave which would drown her, this time the waves were softly crashing against the shore. Softly letting her know.

She sensed strong magic, constantly pulsating throughout the school but Hope's room was beating the loudest at having her presence in it. And yes, it might be emptied of physical things but it definitely wasn't empty of strong energies. It felt calm and gave Josie a sense of security but at the same time, it gave her a feeling of hopeless (no pun intended) as if something so treasured before was now missing.

When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that Hope was looking at her curiously. Her eyes tracing every inch of Josie's face as if asking a silent question. But Josie's attention was on the aura that was evolving Hope. 

It wasn't dark, but it wasn't bright either. Her dominant colors were still dim, meaning that her dominant energy for life in general was still low, but right above and center, green and blue were glimmering and harmoniously dancing, meaning that she was currently feeling some kind of peacefulness and was okay with being expressive towards her current feelings.

Huh. If Josie hadn't taken her inhibitor off, she wouldn't have known considering that Hope's carefully masked expression didn't exactly tell her anything.

"Um, you still with me?" Hope asked, curiously eyeing Josie. 

"Y-Yeah" She cleared her throat and looked away, her cheeks burned. 

Hope narrowed her eyes but nodded, offering her hands for Josie to take. When she did though, her heart skipped a beat, apart from her hold being too soft but certain, it emanated the strongest magic Josie had ever felt so when she started to siphon, it almost made her dizzy. She closed her eyes again. 

_ Hold it _ . 

Josie felt herself disconnect from her body and being divided into two entities, so when after opening her eyes and seeing she was no longer in the school but in a bayou, she gasped. 

"It's this way" Hope whispered next to her, tugging Josie along with her.

Her hands were still joined and Josie let out another quiet gasp again, making a move to let go but Hope grasped her hand tighter. "Don't let go. You'd be disconnected from me and go back to the school" She glanced again to their hands and furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh, that's weird"

Normally, if she were any other witch, she wouldn't feel Hope's hold on her hand, not even her warmth, their physical bodies were in the school, not in the bayou. But because she wasn't a normal witch but some type of siphoner, Josie figured that it was just another perk of her powers that she hadn't discovered until now.

"Don't let go" Josie pointedly repeated. 

Hope kept looking at their hands, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, probably still wondering why she could clearly feel it when it should be just a ghostly touch. 

When she shook her head slightly and turned around, walking through the bayou and tugging Josie with her, Josie visibly relaxed her shoulders, she didn't know she was even tightening them.

The bayou's energy wasn't the same as the school's but Josie could tell that it was exhilarating. It beat with raw and wild magic and she felt completely attuned to it. Even more so when they stopped walking at the edge of the trees and found RV houses all around and a cottage at the edge of a lake with a small dock. There was a bonfire in the middle of the clearing and maybe 8 people in their mid-twenties or thirties drinking and talking around it.

Did Hope just bring her to a  _ party? _

"Where are we?" She asked 

"In the Bayou" Hope vaguely answered. Her eyes were shining and utterly focused on the scene in front of her.

"Yes, I know Hope" Josie sighed. "But why are we here? What's so important here?" 

Hope turned around to look at her, her auburn-hair seemed almost red illuminated only by the bonfire, her eyes had a wild glint on them. "This is the home of the Crescent Pack" She said, the ghost of a smile on her face. "Those people there, are the former members of the pack" 

Josie nodded. Fully paying attention to Hope, she couldn't seem to look away from her. 

"I wasn't part of the pack though, but my mom was their Alpha for a long, long time" She said softly, her eyes had adopted a nostalgic look and Josie could feel it perfectly. "So, once every two months they all try to get together to celebrate the life of the deceased members, knowing that all of the deceased are right there with them in the other side"

Hope bit her lip nervously and looked away. 

Josie felt her heart heavy in her chest, this was the first time that she saw Hope display so many emotions after two years, she wasn't wearing her usual mask. Even though she couldn't see her aura, Josie was sure of what energies Hope was giving off right now. Sad. Nostalgic. Upset. 

"That's truly beautiful, Hope" 

"Yeah?" She somberly chuckled. "Isn't it ironic how some things are viewed as beautiful only because they're sad?" 

Josie blinked. "I didn't mean it like that," She pointed out defensively.

"It's not beautiful," She replied. "It's just sad, Josie. Beautiful would be that all the Crescent wolves were here, celebrating being alive and well" 

"That's true. But this" Josie pointed to the clearing with her head. "Depends on how you look at it. I find it beautiful because after all this time, you still remember them. You still honor them and have them present even if they're not. That it matters enough to move 9 people to the same place for that whole purpose"

Hope's eyes were shining but her jaw hardened. She visibly swallowed and looked away from Josie.

"Let's go say hi" She tugged Josie again. "It'll start soon"

"What will?" 

When they got closer to the bonfire, the people warmly welcomed them and Hope introduced Josie as  _ just a friend from school _ . Which made Josie feel kind of weird but she decided not to dwell on it. 

The whole time the remaining of the pack were constantly making sure that Hope was doing okay in school, besides other things. Hope seemed content to answer them and be around them, that she occasionally giggled or just kept smiling. Josie noticed that her giggles and smiles were real, she wasn't faking being cheerful. She truly was and it amazed Josie so much that she so desperately wanted to see her aura to check if Hope's colors were shining again.

These wolves auras were between red and green. Some had shades of indigo and others had orange and red. Everyone was shining bright and it gave the bayou some kind of cheerful energy. Josie was loving it, even though she was in her pajamas and by now, they have astral projected for too long that she was starting to be exhausted, she couldn't care less, she was enjoying meeting these people and why not, doing so by still holding Hope's hand all of the time. 

But the truly wonder came when they all went their separate ways (except Hope and Josie of course) and later returned as their wolves. Josie gasped loudly and backed away at seeing so many wolves together approaching them, but Hope squeezed her hand and muttered a: "It's okay" so confidently that Josie saw no reason to believe otherwise.

The wolves positioned themselves around the bonfire and started to howl (surprisingly) harmoniously. As if they were reciting some kind of melody. 

Josie once again gasped at seeing and sensing (even in her astral self) what it was obviously doing. All around them, the wolves created a golden and white mist, covering the top of the bonfire. The energy and tension in the bayou immediately increased. 

Josie knew they weren't the only ones there in that moment, there were other energies as well. She could feel it so clearly as she could feel Hope's hand on hers. 

She turned to look at Hope and some tears were trailing down her cheeks. She had a sad smile and her eyes were so big and focused on the scene in front of her. If Hope could only see what was truly happening, she would think that it wasn't just sad but beautiful as well. 

Josie took deep breaths, still looking at Hope, and tried to visually transmit what she was experiencing to Hope. She focused all of her attention on the sensation of Hope's hand on her own and imagined the opposite of siphoning. Instead of taking, giving. Giving so much. Giving her heightened senses. Giving her enhanced vision. Putting it there to be taken and absorbed. 

Hope wasn't a siphoner, there was no way she could be able to take it, but when she gasped out loud and her breathing became erratic and her eyes even wider, Josie just marveled. Was Hope seeing it too? Seeing the mist of gold and white? Sensing the raw and divine energy all around them? 

It lasted for a couple more minutes, Hope watching the scene and Josie watching Hope. She seemed to be looking at something for the first time, her eyes taking everything in and studying everything with a little furrow between her eyebrows, her mouth was slightly opened. 

It all felt too surreal.

Until it all ended and the wolves kept quiet, circling the bonfire until one by one were separately leaving and then returning as their human form. 

The gold and white mist never faded even after they had stopped.

They hugged each other and offered kind smiles to Josie and Hope until it was all over and everyone had said their goodbyes.

Hope let go of Josie's hand and Josie was immediately transported back to her own body, in Hope's room, still intertwining hands with her in the middle of the mat. Once she felt herself in her own body again, she let go of Hope's hands for real and opened her eyes. 

Hope's aura wasn't as dark as it was minutes before. It had adopted some kind of glimmer. Her eyes were still big and unfocused and Josie could sense that she was slightly in shock. 

Josie swallowed and looked away, grabbing her bracelet and reluctantly putting it on. 

"Um, Hope?" She uttered.

Hope blinked a few times and focused her eyes on Josie, frowning in confusion. 

Josie dreaded the next few seconds, she didn't want Hope to question her about what happened in the bayou. She wasn't even sure if Hope had been able to see and sense like Josie did. 

"I, uh, I gotta go. I've been gone for too long and Lizzie might be wondering where I've been" She hesitantly said. 

Josie stood up and immediately felt her legs and arms wanting to give in to the exhaustion. They have astral projected for too long. 

"Are you okay?" Josie asked when Hope didn't bother to give her an answer but just kept looking at her as if wanting to solve a puzzle just by staring at it. "Hope?" 

Hope got out of her daze and slowly stood up, wincing and stretching her legs. "Yeah, I'm okay" She said, her voice hoarse. 

She approached the door and opened it, holding it open so that when Josie walked past her, she heard Hope whisper a soft, "Thank you" before closing it without giving her the chance to reply.

Josie returned to her room, completely distracted and fiddling with her bracelet. What happened in the bayou still fresh, she couldn't shake the feeling it left on her. She couldn't stop seeing Hope's reaction over and over again in her mind, wondering if maybe Hope had seen it too. 

She went straight to her bed and turned off the bedside lamp, even if her mind was hyperactive now, her body was screaming in exhaustion. 

"Uh, hello? Where have you been?" Lizzie grumbled, still in her own bed with her phone on her hands.

"Library" Josie lied.

"What the hell have you been doing in the library for three hours?" And where are my brownies?" She whined.

Josie remembered the bowl of cookies and Lizzie's brownies next to Hope's mat. "I ate them" She lied again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	4. Chapter 4

"Jo, wake up" 

Josie felt Lizzie annoyingly nudging her, but Josie didn't bother to move other than to wave a dismissing hand towards, what she supposed, her sister was and then nuzzled her pillow contentedly.

"Jo! Come on, get up!" Lizzie kept nudging her. "It's late and I've been needing help finishing my hair for an hour now and you just keep sleeping!" 

Josie groaned and buried her face deeper into the pillows, pulling the blankets over her head and sighing, pleased with the safety of being under the covers so early in the morning. 

She was ready to go back to sleep when she felt a weight being thrown directly on top of her. She groaned louder and started shuffling. 

"Lizzie, get off of me!" She shrieked. Her voice was surprisingly raspy and hoarse, as if she hadn't been drinking water for days.

"Not until you get up and get ready and then help me with my hair!" 

"I won't so just get off of me" 

Being under Lizzie's weight just served as a reminder of how exhausted she was. Her limbs were numb and trying to move them to get Lizzie off of her, only shot pains throughout her body. She doubted that she would be able to stand today without needing to lean on someone or something the entire day, or if she would be able to stand at all. 

"Lizzie please" She whined. "I'm not feeling well today" Her voice was still raspy and her throat felt sore. She really needed a glass of water right now. 

Josie thought Lizzie would just ignore her and stubbornly remain on top of her until Josie got up, but she must have noticed Josie's state and finally moved away, sitting cross legged on one side of the bed.

Josie peeked her head from under the covers, watching Lizzie with a frown. 

"I think I'll skip classes today"

"Is everything okay?" Lizzie asked, worriedly looking at Josie. 

Josie slowly nodded, not wanting to keep using her voice without drowning a glass of water first. 

But honestly though, was everything okay? She felt way too exhausted and she was having lots of trouble in keeping herself awake. Her mind too foggy to even function right. Her limbs were absolutely numb, as if the exhaustion was too much that they just gave up functioning. 

She yawned and buried her face in the pillows again. "Yeah… I'll…. sleep" She said before drifting back to dreamland.

////

Josie spent quite a few days locked up in her room after that. 

Her dad came to the room the first day when she was barely awake, asking what was wrong and why he had been receiving news from her teachers saying that she wasn't in any of her classes. Josie just said she had accidentally siphoned too much and it left her overwhelmed, needing time and space to recover. 

Which wasn't so far from the truth. 

And her dad, knowing her daughter's abilities when siphoning, couldn't say anything helpful about it. After all, Josie was a rare type of siphoner, the only one they have ever encountered. So he knew better than to put pressure on her when it came to siphoning, if it was up to Alaric, she would wear her inhibitor every day for the rest of her life and never siphon again.

So he gave her his approval (not like she needed it anyway) to remain as much as she needed in her room to "sleep it off" as he had put it.

Only that it took her a ridiculously amount of time to finally start feeling as if she had rested just a bit, instead of feeling like she was hit by a truck everytime she woke up. 

Usually, after siphoning too much or for too long from a powerful source, Josie would be left tired. She had never had a hangover, but she was sure this felt just like it. And this time, she siphoned  _ for 3 hours, _ according to Lizzie, from Hope. The most powerful being Josie had  _ ever _ siphoned from.

Don't get her wrong though, siphoning from Hope had been intoxicating. She had felt the tribrid's magic throughout her body, giving life to every cell in it, making her feel immensely powerful. Honestly, coming down from that high, Josie was glad she wasn't magically dead or something.

By the third day of sleeping, waking up to eat, going to the bathroom and returning to bed as soon as possible; Josie was starting to feel okay. Her arms and legs didn't hurt as much and she could stand on her own without swaying, she no longer felt the need to go back to sleep every time she was awake and though still tired, she didn't feel completely exhausted to the bone anymore.

So after waking up late in the afternoon and noticing this and also that it was raining outside, Josie decided to finally leave her room and face the world again. 

But she noticed that the world remained just the same. Classes had ended for the day and because it was raining, the students were all gathered throughout the whole school, unable to go outside. 

She spotted Lizzie excitedly talking with some witches from one of their classes and considered the option to go there and join them, but after realizing that she was too tired still to socialize, she discarded it right away. 

Josie didn't know what to do now, students were all around her and some even approached to ask for her well-being, having heard that she missed three full school days; and Josie, being the kind person she is, just smiled and stayed put, casually going along with the small talks and just wishing to be somewhere else.

She was starting to grow even more tired just by listening to others and pretending to be paying attention while her mind was wandering to some other places. Places she inevitably was visiting the last couple of days since the bayou.

One of those said places being what Josie was able to do without even knowing  _ what _ in the first place she was doing. 

She did the opposite of siphoning. If that even existed. She  _ gave _ her heightened senses and enhanced vision to someone else. Willingly.  _ She did that.  _

But how? How could she have given them  _ so _ easily? Josie had just focused on Hope's touch and came to a conclusion: If she was able to siphon from touch, then she should be able to do the opposite as well. It made sense to her at that moment. To give all of her through her touch instead of taking all by it. But now looking at it, why did that make sense? How was she able to do it?

Well, Josie didn't exactly  _ give _ Hope her magic, if it was magic then Hope wouldn't be able to take it because she wasn't a siphoner. That much was clear. It couldn't be magic per se. Still, Josie most likely gave Hope her abilities to see and sense the gold and white mist surrounding the bonfire and the strong energies that came with them. 

Speaking of which, she was having trouble wrapping her head around the fact that Hope had asked  _ her _ directly for her help with something so… personal and intimate, knowing full well where she was taking Josie and what Josie would be a witness of.

It was obviously special to Hope, a part of her past, a part that involved her mother and indirectly, her death. Hope let herself be vulnerable in front of someone else, so much so as to share this part of her life. That was something Josie was certain that Hope wouldn't just share with anyone. Josie doubted that Hope would ask just anyone to go with her to the bayou. 

So what did that mean for Josie? What did that make josie?

Last time she checked, they weren't even friends.

Josie frowned, her eyes had wandered to the window, the rain still pouring outside. She wanted nothing more than to go outside and be cleansed from all these thoughts. Let the rain take it all away.

"...Don't you think? Josie?" She heard the witch she was currently with, ask her. But honestly, Josie had stopped paying attention for a while now.

"Sorry, I'll be right back, I need to… do something"

Josie couldn't take it anymore, even though she had rested for three days in a row, her body and mind felt too tired and all these unanswered questions were just heaving in her mind, giving her a headache. 

So, without even waiting a second for the girl's reply, she stood up and went to the kitchen, deciding to go outside from the kitchen's door so she wouldn't be questioned by all the students in the main hall as to why she was willingly stepping under the rain. 

It was cold and it caused shivers to run all over her body, but it made her smile anyway. Josie took off her bracelet, put it in her shorts' pocket and immediately closed her eyes when this time, the rain hit her differently.

She was showered with the constantly intense, yet calm energy that the rain provided her with. It felt as if a storm was brewing but it would never arrive. It wasn't exactly still, Josie could feel the trees moving side by side every time the wind caressed them slightly. She also felt how the drops gently hit her skin or the ground beneath her. 

It was calming. 

In the incessant rhythm of the rain as if it would never end, in the way she was hugged and caressed by the wind, in the way the dark clouds would roar and fill her with an intense amount of energy. 

Josie sighed and walked a few steps before sitting cross legged on the grass. She no longer felt exhausted, instead, she was so attuned with nature, with the way the rain had decided to fall upon them, that it completely vitalized her. 

She took several deep breaths and brought her hands to her knees, closing her eyes, letting the rain wash over every tight muscle, every part of her body that felt disconnected, exhausted, out of place. 

She tried to not think of Hope, of all the questions related to what happened a few days ago, rather than what she was currently feeling.

Calm. Peaceful. Serene.

So much so that she took her hands from her knees and brought them to hover just above her chest, opposite each other, as if she was holding an invisible ball. Then, she started to imagine a green ball right where this invisible ball would be, making it change size according to her breathing. 

Inhale, and the ball would expand.

Exhale, and the ball would shrink.

Over and over again, until she could sense herself shining with a green light all around her, expanding and shrinking and completely attuned to her breathing. 

Josie smiled and opened her eyes, seeing herself currently shining with shades of green, pink and yellow. Her energy was restored. 

But when she looked around, she instantly noticed a pair of piercing blue eyes curiously watching her. Hope was a few feet from her, holding a sparring staff and wearing workout clothes that were absolutely soaked from the rain, her hair looked darker and was sticking to her face. Josie noticed that she looked restless and tired, and she probably was. Her energy was restless too and her aura kept on glimmering but not even close to being shining.

"What are you doing?" She asked, still frowning. 

Josie noticed that her chest was unevenly rising and falling, as if she was having trouble breathing properly. She was nervous too, why would Hope be nervous?

"Meditating" Josie arched an eyebrow. 

Dammit, now that she was outside her room, she wanted to avoid Hope at all cost. 

What a way to go.

"Under the rain?" Hope chuckled.

"You're outside too. What are  _ you _ doing?" Josie pointedly asked.

"Training" She shrugged.

"Under the rain?" Josie repeated, a smirk on her face when she noticed that Hope narrowed her eyes. 

Josie looked away and focused her attention on anything but Hope, still feeling her lingering eyes on her. Josie knew why Hope had approached, of course she knew, and she dreaded it. She didn't want to have that conversation at all. 

The  _ Oh yeah I'm not a normal siphoner witch  _ conversation. 

"You've been avoiding me" It wasn't a question and Josie swallowed. Hard.

_ There goes the peace and quiet _ .

"No, I haven't" 

"Yes, you have" Hope insisted, raising an eyebrow. "I haven't seen you these past few days"

_ Have you been looking for me? _ Her heart skipped a beat, or maybe two or three.

Josie stood up from the ground. "No, I haven't" She repeated. "I was in my room these last few days recovering from having siphoned too much for a long time. Not all of us heal in a matter of seconds"

Hope carefully studied Josie's face with her eyes before uttering a "Sorry" with a tight smile.

"Yeah, well" Josie shrugged, wanting to go back to the school now and avoid the conversation to progress. She didn't want it to progress, Hope would inevitably ask her what happened in the bayou and Josie was  _ not _ ready for that conversation either.

"How, uh… How do you feel now?" She hesitantly asked. 

"I recharged, I'm good now" 

The rain was just increasing in intensity, without a sign of letting up any time soon. Not that Josie minded, now that Josie was attuned to it, she felt like the rain was a part of her and she was a part of the rain. She couldn't care less if she spent the whole day under it… But seeing Hope completely soaked in front of her, was beyond distracting. Josie had to stop her eyes from lingering too much in the way the drops would fall down her skin, from looking directly in her eyes and getting herself lost in blue, from looking at her rosy lips and noticing her chest still unevenly rising and falling. 

She swallowed again, yeah, she wanted to get away now. 

Hope cleared her throat. Her eyes narrowed and Josie couldn't tell if it was because the rain was hitting them or if she noticed Josie's staring. "I actually have been meaning to ask you how come you-"

Josie's heartbeat picked up erratically at that. _Oh no. Oh no. Change it. Redirect it somewhere else_.

"I have wanted to ask you something too" She blurted out, interrupting her.

Hope blinked and abruptly closed her mouth and licked her lips. "You have?" She tilted her head.

She actually had though. Josie nodded, not missing Hope's lips during that action. 

"Yeah. How come that, out of all the people in the school, I was the one you asked to go with you to… the bayou?"

The meaning was clear: How come you trust me with this? We're not friends.

And Hope understood the subtext just fine, judging by the way her eyes widened. 

"I-uh… W-Why you ask?"

"Also, were you just going to astral project all by yourself if I hadn't shown up?"

Josie knew that she should stop with the questions, if the way that Hope's energy had changed and Josie could sense that Hope was starting to close off and lift up her walls; had been waving red flags at her. But also, if she hadn't, Josie was certain of what Hope was about to ask her.

And nope, not today.

Hope looked away, avoiding Josie's eyes when she nodded.

"Why?" Josie insisted.

_ Don't push her. Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop _ .

The other part of her was anxious to hear the reason, though. It didn't make sense to Josie and she wanted to find out  _ why her. _

"You know what? You're obviously busy with your meditation." She cleared her throat. "I should probably go back inside the school and let you get back to it"

Hope walked past her but Josie gently grabbed her by the wrist to stop her.

"Just tell me" Josie pleaded with her eyes. Ignoring the red flags and risking Hope to keep on lifting her walls up with her.

She really wanted to know though, she really wanted Hope to tell her, that because she trusted Josie and not because it was consequential. As selfish and senseless as that might sound having in mind they have barely even talked. 

But still, Josie had always sensed their "relationship" as if there was an unspoken connection there that they hadn't taken the time to explore. Or was that just her? She couldn't be wrong, she sensed things as part of her normal life, so why did she feel so insecure with that feeling she got from whatever  _ thing _ she had with the girl in front of her?

She noticed how Hope's eyes lingered on her touch, then her eyes widened a bit for a moment and she slightly shivered before quickly closing her eyes. Josie let go of her wrist, confused, what had just happened?

When Hope opened her eyes again, they were wild and narrowed, focusing solely on Josie. "Yeah? Then  _ you _ tell  _ me _ how come I keep on experiencing something so… rare whenever I'm with-"

But she was cut off by Caroline's voice coming from the kitchen's windows. "Girls! What are you doing under the rain?! Come here immediately!" 

Hope frustratedly sighed and looked at Josie one more time, narrowing her eyes again as if saying  _ this isn’t over _ , before turning around and heading for the kitchen's door. 

Josie just took her bracelet from her pocket and put it on. 

_ What the hell?! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks y'all for all the comments. i really love reading what you guys think about this story. <3  
> hope you're all safe and taking care of yourselves<3


	5. Chapter 5

No. She wasn't hiding right now. 

Pft. No. That'd be...  _ Childish _ . And what Josie hadn't totally been doing for the last 3 days. 

So what if she kept  _ not-hiding _ by opening a book and sinking into whatever she would be sitting on, in hopes of appearing casual and maybe pass for someone else whenever someone walked in on the room? Or when she would get to class, keep her head down the entire time (even though she fought the urge to raise her hand and give the answer she so obviously knew), and then rush out of class?

She wasn't hiding, okay? She was being  _ casual _ . Yep. Totally fine. Completely okay with the fact that Hope quite possibly already knew about Josie's abilities just because she couldn't care less about being careful whenever she was with the tribrid.

Honestly, if Josie pretended to keep it as a secret, she was awful at it. How she managed to spend her entire life with only a few people knowing about it, it would forever remain a mystery to her. 

Though, deep down she knew why. She knew not many people paid much attention to her, or noticed her. While she noticed absolutely everyone just by the auras and energies they would give off, she knew when they were happy, sad or angry, she knew their names and if she paid close enough attention, she could actually read into their hopes and fears just by studying their auras. She also knew that some people only considered her Lizzie's shadow, Lizzie's Twin Sister, or her favorite:  _ I know that your nickname is Josie, is it short for Josephine? _

So yeah, her secret was safe. She was happy remaining as a shadow if that meant that her abilities would remain hidden from the rest of the school. She wasn't hiding, she was being totally herself. Except when Hope would enter a room she was in. Then yeah okay, maybe Josie could admit that she was casually hiding from the tribrid. But Hope knowing about her abilities made Josie restless. 

She didn't know why, it just did. 

Everything about Hope made her restless.

And yes, she had played around the idea of letting Hope know, letting Hope see and sense for herself. She had been careless with keeping them hidden. But she had one goal in mind: Let Hope see and sense everything like Josie did. 

But now that Hope most likely had, Josie didn't exactly know how to handle that situation. 

She could explain all of her abilities really well, she had read about them, she had practiced them many times before. She knew what she was talking about. But not this. This was new. And she would be lying if she said it didn't terrify her. 

And even though she had known Hope since she was 8-ish, had been in the same classes with her quite a few times, had barely talked to her at all and just paid attention and picked up a few details about her over the years. What Josie knew from the girl, was what everyone knew from her: Quiet, shy and asocial girl that was all along The Great Evil's daughter. Her hometown was New Orleans and she was the first tribrid to ever exist. 

That was it. That was all Josie knew about her. 

So even if her intentions as to share her abilities with her held no ulterior motives, what made Josie think that she could trust Hope with it? That Hope had no ulterior motives as well after she finds out for sure? If they were completely strangers to each other. 

Josie shook her head, forcing herself to get out of her head and focus on the task at hand. Said task being: cleaning the magical supplies in the storage closet.

It was weird, and no one actually sent her to do so. But sometimes, being without her inhibitor in a place full of delicate, ancient or natural magic, made Josie feel content. Which was exactly what she needed after all those exhausting thoughts roaming her head over and over again.

"Okay, spill it out"

Josie jumped and almost dropped a jar of some green-ish liquid to make a potion, which Josie couldn't remember the name of.

Man, she truly didn't know but she was sure that it would've been bad. 

She turned around and saw Lizzie leaning on the doorframe, crossing her arms around her chest and raising an eyebrow. Josie shrugged and kept on reorganizing the jars on the top shelf. 

"I don't know what you're talking about" She said, trying not to focus too much on Lizzie's current energy. She hated when Lizzie started acting all cocky and as if she knew all of Josie's secrets. 

"You've been acting weird lately, and don't think for a second that I haven't seen you dumbly hiding from Hope whenever she was around. Also, I think we need to talk about your chosen methods for hiding? Who uses a book to hide her face under? Or a closet? Do you want people to think you went back in it? Wait, do they know you're  _ out _ of it? Maybe this could be a great meta-" 

"Lizzie!" Josie hissed, annoyed.

Maybe if she put that jar on the other side, it wouldn't mess with the-

"So, what's the deal you have with-"

"Oh my god Lizzie, if you say another thing about Hope to me I'll start thinking that you're the one with an obsession on her" Josie deadpanned.

Lizzie huffed. "She wished" Then, slightly pouted. "Seriously Jo, what's wrong? You've been hiding in this storage closet and I know that you do this when something's bothering you"

"Nothing's bothering me" Nice, lying through her teeth. 

Too bad she was bad at it, had a twin sister to which she had a twin connection with, therefore, a twin sister that always knew when she was lying. 

Lizzie just readjusted her position on the doorframe and patiently waited for Josie.

For Josie, who put her arms around herself in an attempt to shield herself from the insistent waves she was getting from her sister. It was too much that it only made her really unstable. As if the wall were closing in on herself and she couldn't feel anything but pressure.

"Please, stop" She muttered.

"Stop what? I've been giving you time to come to me and talk about whatever that's bothering you, Jo. But I've given you enough time already" 

"This, Lizzie!" She shrieked. The walls were suffocating her. "This right now is bothering me. It's doing more than bothering me. It's suffocating me..." Lizzie tilted her head, confused. "You're being too intense about this" Josie clarified.

Lizzie pouted again and stepped closer. She silently asked for Josie's permission and when Josie nodded, Lizzie moved her arms away from her and hugged her. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be too intense. I'm just worried about you, Jo" She said, holding Josie loosely.

Josie exhaled. All tension in the air disappearing, the walls expanding instead of shrinking. Lizzie's constant and calm breathing, leaving only a calm energy around them both.

"I know" 

"Is it something related to your abilities again?" She carefully asked, knowing that somehow that could be a delicate subject for her twin.

Josie just nodded and pouted. It was. It was about her abilities, yes. But also, about a particular someone finding out about them too.

"Are they growing again? Like all the last times? Is it bad?" Lizzie sighed.

Josie let go of her twin and walked to the wall next to one of the shelves, she slid down and sat cross-legged on the floor, burying her face on her hands. 

"I don't know if it's bad" She admitted. "But they're definitely growing, I'm just not keeping up with them. Again."

Few seconds later, she felt her twin sliding down the wall next to her. She looked up to see Lizzie's worried expression besides her and Josie lightly smiled at knowing that she had her sister. For better or worse. Either way. She had her. 

"Do you think we should talk to aunt Bonnie again?" 

Josie sighed and leaned her head on the wall, closing her eyes and taking the bracelet from her pockets. "Yeah. Let's schedule a lunch meeting or something"

"I'll call her" Lizzie added with a nod before abruptly standing up and rushing out of the storage closet. 

///

A lunch meeting or something ended up being a coffee meeting in Mystic Falls. 

Lizzie had called Bonnie later that day (without Caroline knowing, of course) and Bonnie told her that she was free that day and could meet the twins around 5-ish if it worked for them.

It didn't. They were students in a boarding school, for god's sake. They weren't allowed to get out of the school without one of the headmasters signing them off. 

And being the daughters of the headmasters didn't mean anything. They still needed authorization from one of them. So, Josie and Lizzie were taking advantage of the fact that Caroline had been home for a week now and asked her (instead of their dad who would stubbornly say no) if they could meet their aunt for coffee, knowing that Caroline wouldn't say no to them seeing their aunt. 

As expected, Caroline didn't say no. But she had one condition: She would also go to this coffee meeting they arranged with Bonnie, or the twins wouldn't go at all.

So that was how Josie ended up sitting on a coffee table with a cup of coffee on her hands and listening to her mother and aunt talk back and forth about how much time they would spend sitting on that same coffee table years ago. 

Josie sighed. She loved them both. They were her family and she wished she could be paying attention because their topics seemed interesting. But she still couldn't think about another thing that wasn't her current issue at hand. She glanced at Lizzie, who was listening to everything they said with an amused expression, seemingly enjoying whatever mischief or adventure that Caroline and Bonnie had when they were teenagers.

Thank god for twin connection because Lizzie drew her eyes back to Josie, as if asking:  _ "what?" _

_ "interrupt them, we have things to discuss" _ Josie tried to say with her eyes.

_ "why me? you interrupt them" _ Lizzie seemed to be saying in reply.

Josie just stared back at her sister and frowned, adding a pout to go with it. Lizzie didn't seem to want to keep arguing with her sister at seeing that pout and just rolled her eyes. She plastered a smile on her face and gently put her hand on top of Caroline's. 

Caroline abruptly shut up and glanced at her daughter. "What's wrong sweetie?"

"Mom. We love you. We really do. But must I remind you that this was a coffee arrangement  _ with _ , and  _ only, _ aunt Bonnie to discuss some serious matters at hand? And not just to catch up?" 

Caroline blinked a couple of times and then laughed. "Am I taking all of the attention?" She asked, amused.

"Yes" Josie and Lizzie said at the same time. 

"Alright" She said between her laughs. "Sorry. Please take the stage"

Lizzie smiled and flipped her hair. "Alright, so aunt Bonnie. Josie and I, well, mostly Josie actually, wanted to talk to you about something"

"What's this serious matter you need to discuss with me?" Bonnie asked, tilting her head. Also amused. 

Lizzie looked at Josie as if letting her lead the conversation and questions they had for their aunt. It was why they specifically called her anyway. 

But Josie nervously swallowed. It never felt good when she addressed her abilities as an issue. As something that was wrong and needed fixing. 

"It's uh, my powers. They're, uh... growing again?" She was careful to not make eye contact with any of them.

She didn't need her inhibitor off to tell that the energy in the room shifted and instead of being light and bubbly, it immediately became serious and heavy.

That always happened when she talked about her abilities growing.

Huh.

"What do you mean growing, sweetie?" Caroline asked, was it Josie's imagination or did her voice sound a little too guarded?

Josie shrugged. "I mean growing" It was too vague and she knew it, she just didn't want to tell exactly how she knew. "Does the opposite of siphoning exists?" She asked instead.

Josie immediately noticed when Caroline and Bonnie shared a heavy look, she just didn't know what it meant. Bonnie sat straighter and Caroline tried to smile and remain composed but it was obviously appearing too hard. 

"In what way exactly?" Bonnie asked, leaning into the table to pay her full attention on Josie.

Which made Josie lean back just a little. She felt like a rare object being studied. 

Josie sighed. Did she really need to tell them how exactly she stumbled upon this new discovery? "Can I... transfer my powers to another supernatural being? No-Not like siphoners do, per se. Cause this other supernatural being wouldn't be able to take it if it was magic. They're not siphoners. But like, another thing besides magic? Can that be transferred?" She kept on asking, playing with her hands under the table. She knew better now than to play with her bracelet, recalling that last time in the dining hall.

Bonnie cleared her throat and briefly looked at Caroline again. Josie saw how she swallowed and then looked at Josie again. 

"Oh god, is it possible? Is it bad?" Josie blurted out.

In her panicked state, she glanced at her sister but Lizzie was just staring at the interaction with a confused expression on her face, looking at Caroline then at Bonnie, then at Caroline again. 

"It's not bad, Josie" Bonnie said in an elaborated exhale. "It can't be bad if it's you" She then added, more to herself than to Josie.

"What does that mean?" Josie asked, having caught it anyway.

Bonnie widened her eyes and shook her head. "Nothing. I-uh, how did you notice this was happening?"

"I-"

" _ Wait _ !" Lizzie grumbled. "What do you mean the  _ opposite _ of siphoning? What does that even mean?"

"I don't know" Josie sighed. She felt like she was standing under a spotlight and it was getting quite uncomfortable by the second. "I just touched someone without my inhibitor bracelet on and somehow I transferred them whatever energy I felt" She finally admitted. The spotlight getting brighter. "I think they saw the colors too" 

Lizzie widened her eyes. "You can actually do that?" She gasped.

"I don't know!" Josie snapped. Then, she took a deep breath and repeated with a calmer voice: "I don't know... Aunt Bonnie?"

"And this only happened when you had your inhibitor off?" Caroline spoke up. She was careful in keeping her composure, not letting it crack. But Josie knew that if she took her bracelet off, she'd sense her mom's restless energy. 

"Yeah. Only when it's off and I touch someone" She nodded. And now that she was coming clear with this: "And also, I guess I should also add that I'm feeling my powers getting out of my control. They're becoming too raw and powerful, too intense. Leaving me overwhelmed, throwing up or shaking sometimes" 

She watched their reactions. Fully self-aware. Lizzie nodded pouting, and Caroline and Bonnie kept briefly looking at each other with uneasy expressions. 

What was that about? 

"Do you think we need to make her a stronger inhibitor? Block them out?" Caroline asked.

Josie's eyes widened and she almost spit out her coffee.

Bonnie shook her head. "No, that would only make things worse when she inevitably takes it off from time to time"

"But..."

"Caroline" Bonnie warned, raising an eyebrow. 

"You know, I'm still here!" Josie complained. "Don't talk about me like I'm not. Like I'm some problem that needs to be fixing!"

Caroline slightly gasped and stood up from her chair to go sit next to Josie. She put her hands on her daughter's shoulders and made her look at her. "You're not a problem, sweetie. You could never be a problem. And you don't need fixing-"

"Yeah well, you can't blame her. Your latest comment made her think otherwise", Lizzie snapped, taking a sip from her coffee. 

Caroline shot her an exasperated look before drawing her eyes back to Josie's. "As I was saying. You don't need fixing. Your powers are beautiful just like you, and the fact that they're growing means that you're growing too. You're becoming an exceptional witch. So powerful and so,  _ so, good" _

She emphasized the last word, as if wanting Josie to only remember  _ that _ specific word. 

Huh. 

Josie nodded and slowly smiled. Hugging her mom tightly. "Alright" She said once she let go. "But I still don't know what it means, or how to control them"

"It's okay. I'll... do some research and then we can find a solution to this" Bonnie confidently smiled. "You don't need to worry about this, Jo. We got you"

Josie smiled at her aunt but then felt Lizzie's eyes on her. They seemed to be thinking the same thing:

_ If this wasn't a problem, why do we need a solution for it? _


	6. Chapter 6

She hadn’t received any messages or calls from Bonnie ever since that coffee meeting 2 days ago, so Josie kept on wearing her inhibitor and not taking it off. She didn’t know why she kept getting the feeling that now that her mom and Bonnie knew about this new  _ thing _ , they wouldn’t allow her to take it off from now on. 

It was a scary thought, but after seeing their reactions when she shared that information with them, it wasn’t such a wild one either. A reaction that she kept on repeating over and over in her head, needless to say.

On the other hand, Lizzie had been constantly nudging Josie for more information about this new development of her abilities. Asking a thousand questions at a time and wanting to know absolutely everything about it. 

It didn’t surprise Josie. She knew her sister was still somewhat resentful with her own kind of magic, with her own normal siphoning. Lizzie didn’t hate it anymore as she used to when they were kids, she had grown to accept it and deal with it. She would complain about it from time to time, but after she learned that Josie had developed a new kind of siphoning, Lizzie was just fascinated with it. 

It made Josie smile, seeing that her sister no longer hated the kind of magic she was born with.

So the following 2 days had been… Uneventful and Josie had been successfully avoiding Hope since she last saw her outside the school while she was meditating days ago, so she would have thought that she got away with having to face her.

Keywords here being: _ had been _ and  _ had thought _ .

Because even though Josie had been avoiding her and hiding from her whenever she saw Hope around the school, it didn't do well when they shared a class together. Josie could feel Hope's eyes on her the entire time whenever they were sharing a class and usually, Josie would just hurry up and get out as soon as possible when the class ended. Not giving Hope a chance to approach her if she wanted to.

Only that this time was different, Supernatural History had just ended and Josie wasn't fast enough to be the first one out. She was held back by a soft hand wrapped around her arm. When she looked up, it was Hope. Of course it would be Hope. And she was looking at Josie with a determined, almost annoyed expression.

They stayed that way while the rest of the students slowly gathered their things and got out of the classroom. Hope keeping Josie in place by just grabbing her arm, not giving her a chance to make a run for it. 

Her touch was gentle but certain. Josie was sure she couldn't make a run for it even if she tried. And she tried. It didn’t work. 

"Girls?" Mr. Andrews said, looking at both of them while gathering his own stuff from the desk. "Aren't you getting out of the classroom?"

Josie opened her mouth but Hope spoke up first. "Yes, we will. But first I need to discuss some details about a class project with Josie and I'm afraid we cannot do it outside. Too much noise and it's due today" Hope made a (obviously fake) sad expression. But it seemed to work on Mr. Andrews. "Do you think we could borrow the classroom for a few minutes?" She asked sweetly.

Mr. Andrews remained gathering his stuff. When he dropped the last pen on his suitcase, he looked up and indifferently smiled at both girls. "Yeah, sure. I'm done here anyway. See you guys later"

"Thanks" Hope kept her sweet voice and (fake) smile on until Mr. Andrews got out of the classroom and closed the door. 

"I always thought he's kind of weird" Josie muttered to herself. 

Hope let go of Josie's arm and her sweet fake smile disappeared to give room to an annoyed frown. 

"You can be such a charmer sometimes" Josie observed, particularly impressed. 

"I think we have a conversation to continue" Hope just said, sitting on top of one the desks and crossing her legs, leaning back a little by putting her palms flat behind her.

Josie uncomfortably swallowed, this was exactly what she had been avoiding. But after a few days to think about the possibilities on how this conversation would go, she prepared an answer. So Josie stood straighter and crossed her arms. "Yeah, I think we do" 

Hope tilted her head, confused. Maybe she was expecting more of a fight? 

"Like for example the why you took me to the bayou" Josie shrugged. "I haven't forgotten" 

Hope sighed but looked away from Josie. "That's not what I meant, nor what I want to talk about right now"

Josie pursed her lips. "You want a conversation, Hope? It works both ways, you know?" 

Hope uncrossed her legs and stood up, walking towards Josie. Her eyes were determined and so blue, her hair was softly falling down in waves and everything about her seemed immaculate and graceful.Not a hair out of place. Not a wrinkle on her uniform. As if Hope was the perfect definition of put together. 

Josie knew it was everything but. It was just her carefully crafted mask. So she wouldn't let herself be intimidated by others. That was why Josie told herself that there was no reason to be intimidated by Hope. Yet, she found herself stepping back everytime Hope stepped closer. 

Until she touched the teacher's desk behind her and swallowed. Looking at Hope like a deer caught in headlights.

"W-What are you doing?" She shakily asked.

_ Calm down. Calm down. _

But her heart was beating too fast and Hope was too close. How was she supposed to calm down when she had the older girl right in front of her with barely a couple of inches between them? 

"Testing a theory" Hope casually said, studying Josie's face with her eyes.

It only made Josie blush. Hope was too close. Too close. Did she really need to close the distance so much? Josie swallowed again and licked her lips, not missing Hope's eyes following the action. "What theory?"

Hope smirked. "Allow me your hand, please?" 

She held out her own hand in the air, waiting for Josie to put hers on top of Hope's.

Josie eyed Hope's hand. They looked so soft and then she remembered when she was able to hold it for 3 hours straight. She could feel her entire face heat up, her blush was getting bad wasn't it? She cleared her throat. "What for?"

"Just give me your hand, Josette" Hope rolled her eyes.

Josie slowly lifted her hand and put it on top of Hope's waiting one. Hope didn't waste a second to hold it and gently squeeze it. When nothing obviously happened, she frowned and looked at Josie. 

"What are you trying to do?" Josie hesitantly asked.

But Hope didn't bother to reply, she just kept looking at Josie's hand as if trying to decipher a complicated puzzle. That was when she noticed the bracelet innocently resting on her wrist and a smile of realization crossed her face. "What's this?" She asked, touching the bracelet.

Josie's heart wasn't sure if it wanted to have a heart attack or just stop beating at all. Hope's fingers were slightly caressing her wrist while she kept curiously playing with the bracelet "What?" 

"Huh" Hope sighed. "I don't feel anything... It's because of this, isn't it?" She searched Josie's eyes with her own but Josie avoided her eyes at all costs. "What is it? I haven't seen you wearing it whenever-"

"This is not fair" Josie complained, interrupting Hope. "You're cornering me" She pointed out as if it was the most obvious thing right now. "Quite literally, actually"

Hope dropped her hand and crossed her arms. She frowned. "We can't play this game forever, Josette"

"What game?" 

Hope huffed and smiled incredulously. "As if you didn't know" She raised an eyebrow and leaned in just a little. "You started it"

"I- I truly don't know what you mean" Josie could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest.  _ What. Game? _

"Fine, let's keep on dancing around each other, then" Hope shrugged. "I guess that's just easier than actually talking. Let me know when you want to lower your walls and talk to me"

Now it was Josie's time to huff. "What?" She laughed. "Me? Having my walls up? Are you sure you're not getting it twisted?"

"Alright, I can admit that I'm not the most social person but you were the one avoiding me, Josette" She shrugged. "I just want to talk" 

"I want to talk too. I have questions of my own, you know. But you're keeping your walls up too, Hope" Josie deeply inhaled. She could feel Hope's presence, she could see very well into those determined blue eyes, she could smell her perfume. It was all too much. 

‘’Like I said before, a conversation works both ways’’ She added, holding her breath. 

Josie glanced down to look at Hope's lips briefly before drawing her eyes back to Hope's, noticing how her blush was darkening. It was a pretty shade of red and now Josie seriously needed to stop looking at it.

"You want to talk?" Hope asked, her voice was unsure and she wasn't keeping eye contact.

"Yes" Josie sighed. Finally releasing the breath that she had been holding. Finally accepting her fate. They could just keep on dancing around each other, or they could just talk about it and let it be done with. Either way, Josie couldn't keep on avoiding and hiding from the girl forever. "Meet me in the Old Mill after dinner? Maybe we can talk?"

Hope nodded, she pursed her lips and looked down. 

"What is it?" Josie tilted her head.

"I'm sorry" She said, still looking down. "For, uh’’ She cleared her throat. ‘’Cornering you like this" She swallowed. ‘’But you would’ve run away otherwise’’

They were still inches apart and Josie was leaning on the teacher's desk, trying not to pay too much attention to how heated up her entire body felt. 

"It's okay" Josie shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "I, uh... Don't mind" She looked away. If Hope noticed her blush getting darker, she didn’t say anything about it. 

Hope nodded and stepped back. "Talk to you later then" 

She grabbed her backpack from her desk and got out of the classroom, not bothering to look back. And that was perfect, cause if she did, then she would’ve seen Josie leaning her head back and dramatically sighing as if she had run a whole marathon.

///

Josie didn’t see Hope later that day and she truly didn’t know if the tribrid would show up at all in the Old Mill. So instead of pacing around like she had been doing the last couple of minutes since she arrived, Josie decided to take the book that she had been reading a while ago but completely forgot that she had left it on one of the shelves. It was about plants and their natural healing properties. 

She sat on the couch and got completely immersed in her reading that she jumped, startled, when someone cleared their throat across from her.

‘’Hey’’ Hope was standing a few feet from her, nervously playing with her hands. She wasn’t wearing her uniform, instead she had her hair up in a ponytail and she was wearing jeans and a navy blue t-shirt with the Salvatore emblem on it. Josie noticed that her jeans had faded paint stains on them. 

Josie smiled and closed the book. ‘’Hi Hope. I thought you wouldn’t show up’’ 

‘’I almost didn’t’’ Hope admitted, switching her weight from one leg to the other.

‘’Why?’’ 

‘’It doesn’t matter, I’m here now’’ She dismissed, waving a hand in the air. 

‘’Then we… how did you put it?’’ Josie tilted her head. ‘’Ah. Then we would’ve kept on dancing around each other. If you hadn’t’’ 

She smiled when she saw Hope slightly smiling and tucking a loose hair under her ear. 

‘’Sit with me?’’ Josie softly requested, patting the space in front of her on the couch.

Hope did then she started to nervously play with her hands again. ‘’I'm sorry, for coming off too strong with this’’

It was amusing to Josie, she was the one getting questioned about her abilities and yet, Hope was the one to be acting all shy and nervous. 

‘’It's okay, Hope’’ She reassured her. It was only normal, Josie understood that if the places were reversed, she would be curious too and dying to know. 

‘’No’’ Hope shook her head. ‘’It isn't. I thought about it and I know that if someone came off too strong with me when I was hiding the fact that I'm a tribrid. I don't know what I would've done but I'm sure it wouldn't have been good’’ She pointed out. 

Josie was about to say something to reassure Hope that she didn’t mind, that she understood her curiosity when Hope spoke up again. This time, as if she desperately wanted to get the words out.

‘’It's just, that day in the bayou... it wasn't the first time I've felt whatever you transferred to me’’

Josie frowned, and leaned back. Completely taken aback by that revelation. ‘’What?’’

Hope nodded and bit her lips. ‘’Yeah, I-uh have felt it before. From you’’

Josie cocked her head to the side. She swore that her entire face was a question mark by now, shining in bright red. ‘’When?’’

‘’After my parents…’’ She trailed off, then she cleared her throat and smiled tightly. ‘’I came back to school’’ She shrugged.

Josie nodded and leaned in, fully paying attention to Hope. Hope was hugging her legs and even though she was sitting right next to Josie, Josie couldn’t help but think that she was far away from her right now. 

‘’You probably don't remember it’’ She continued, noticing that Josie was expecting the rest of the explanation. ‘’I think you didn't even notice what you were doing in the first place. But you had this off’’ She pointed to Josie’s bracelet. ‘’I noticed cause by then, you started wearing it every day and wouldn't take it off at all. Every time I saw you, you were wearing this bracelet, but that day you had it off. So I immediately noticed. It was the day that Dr. Satlzman said a few goodbye words for my parents in the school assembly and... you hugged me’’ 

Hope sadly smiled, recalling the memory. Her eyes were starting to get watery and Josie could feel a lump forming in her throat. Of course she remembered that day, how could she forget it? It was the first day that she decided to be brave enough for a little bit before she lost all courage.

‘’I was so anxious standing there next to Dr. Saltzman and looking at the whole school staring at me as if I was some sort of freak’’ She rolled her eyes. ‘’Anyways, I was sad and angry, and I just... didn't want to be there at all. And you noticed’’ She stopped looking at the distance to glance at Josie, a smile on her face. ‘’I didn't know how but you noticed, so you approached me and hugged me and all those feelings immediately went away. I felt comforted, relaxed, peaceful’’

Josie opened her mouth to add something but at finding no words and just feeling the lump in her throat, she closed it again. 

‘’Then, I realized that those feelings started when you hugged me’’ Hope sighed, raising an eyebrow at Josie. ‘’But they went away after you let go’’

‘’Hope, I...-’’ Josie swallowed and looked away.

‘’I kept on thinking about that moment over and over ever since. I wanted to approach you and ask you about it, but it would be kind of weird to just bring it up. And you never approached me either even though you hugged me in front of the entire school, without ever talking to me at all.’’ She laughed incredulously.

Josie looked down at her book, she kept trying to swallow the lump but it wouldn’t go away. Hope remained in silence for a while, maybe expecting Josie to add something, but Josie didn’t, and she didn’t want to look up either.

‘’So I let it be’’ Hope added instead. ‘’Until of course, I couldn't keep on wondering about it forever and that's why I told you to help me with the spell. I wanted to see for myself that whatever I felt that day was true, and not something I made up in my head’’ 

She said the last part emphasizing every word, making Josie finally look up and notice that Hope’s eyes were shining. Josie also noticed that Hope wasn’t wearing her usual mask, her face was showing a range of emotions. Going from expectant to nervous to vulnerable. Josie just kept staring until Hope looked away and cleared her throat.

Josie realized that she hadn’t said anything for quite a while now and felt awfully embarrassed. ‘

‘’A conversation works both ways, you know?’’ Hope repeated Josie’s words with a teasing smile.

‘’I-I’m sorry’’ Josie mumbled, blinking a few times.

Hope shook her head. ‘’No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be too intense with this’’ 

Josie’s eyes widened. ‘’No, no. Don't be sorry!’’ She rapidly added. ‘’Thank you for telling me this. I, uh-’’ She sighed. 

_ Here comes nothing _ .

‘’I truly didn’t know I made you feel that way that day. But, uh, it wasn’t in your head. I don’t know how to explain it to you, I just figured it out. But maybe I could show you?’’ 

Hope furrowed her eyebrows and slowly nodded.

‘’Come here’’ Josie softly requested. Hope got a little bit closer to Josie but still kept some distance from her. A sharp contrast to the girl that walked her back to the desk and cornered her there just because she had questions.

Josie took her bracelet off and smiled when Hope narrowed her eyes at it. ‘’Allow me your hand, please?’’ Josie asked, it was her turn now to repeat Hope’s words from earlier. 

Josie’s heart was strangely calm, maybe because even if she didn’t know for sure if she could trust Hope with this, after everything Hope said, Josie got the feeling that maybe she could. After all, Hope could have said anything to anyone about her suspicions all that time since that happened. Yet, she didn’t. She didn’t. And that meant everything to Josie. That was the last thing she needed to get the courage to do what she was about to do.

Hope put her hand on Josie’s waiting one. At first nothing happened, but then Josie closed her eyes and focused on the waves she was getting. Soft waves hitting the shore. The night didn’t feel rushed or heavy with tension. All the contrary, it felt as if time had stopped and what remained were the trees slowly moving, the distant noise of the night and the warmth of the Old Mill. Yeah, time had stopped and Josie was sure they were the only ones awake while everything went to sleep. 

She opened her eyes and looked at Hope, but Hope still had her eyes closed and a marveled smile on her face, as if she couldn’t quite believe what was going on. 

‘’It wasn't just in your head’’ Josie reassured her, her voice soft in fear of disturbing the energy that was flowing all around and between them.

Hope opened her eyes, they kept on shining but Josie looked up and saw her aura glimmering. It was as if her dominant colors were being nudged back to life, as if Hope was remembering what  _ feelings _ could be like and it reflected on her aura. 

‘’How do you do this?’’ She gasped.

Josie shrugged. ‘’Maybe we could have one conversation at a time?’’ She nervously smiled. 

‘’One conversation at a time’’ Hope repeated, nodding. 

She softly laughed and looked around the Old Mill, as if seeing it for the first time ever with a pair of new eyes. Which, in some ways, she kinda had?

Meanwhile, Josie didn’t need to see how the Old Mill looked. She had seen it a thousand times before without her inhibitor on. Instead she kept on focusing on transferring all of it to Hope, putting all of it out there for her to take as much as she wanted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know this is a looooooong chapter but it's full of hosie so that makes up for it?


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I took forever to update :c

"No" Bonnie shook her head. "That's not an option, Care. You know it"

"I don't know Bonnie!" Caroline sighed, burying her head in her hands and closing her eyes, shutting them tight to avoid any frustrated tear to spill out. 

It was well into the night and exhaustion was already making itself known once again. She and Bonnie had spent most of the day going back and forth, exchanging possible solutions to Josie's new development on her abilities but nothing seemed right so far. 

And what was worst of all, Caroline knew that soon, she would have to leave her daughters again to go back to her endless trip, her endless search around the world looking for a way to stop her daughters' merge. Which was another stress all of its own. But, meanwhile, she had to be home. She had to deal with this. 

She knew she couldn’t leave again knowing that Josie’s magic kind of unlocked another level on her abilities.

Caroline sat straighter and grabbed her glass, slowly moving it in circles while deeply staring at it. A frown on her face. "Her magic keeps on growing and it's not going to stop" She softly muttered, hardening her jaw.

Bonnie slowly nodded, taking a sip of her own glass of whiskey. "But another stronger inhibitor is not a choice anymore. It can’t be. You said it yourself, her magic  _ is _ growing and will keep on growing. By making her another one we will just be creating a time bomb" 

Caroline looked away and closed her eyes. "I know" She heavily sighed. "I know… I'm just scared. How much can her magic grow?"

Bonnie pursed her lips "You know how much" 

"That's what I'm scared of. I don't want her to become…  _ him" _ Caroline swallowed, eyes taking a guarded look. Even thinking about him made her insides fire up with a blind rage. 

Bonnie stood up from the couch and shook her head, crossing her arms. "No. Josie's  _ not _ him" 

"Her magic is becoming more and more similar to his and I just-"

"Caroline, don't do that thing you do when you're worried out of your mind and can't think straight so you jump on all the possible worst scenarios that your obsessive mind can come up with" Bonnie raised an eyebrow. "I understand where this concern is coming from, I do, but I also  _ know _ that you can't possibly believe that Josie could be anything that is even remotely similar to him" 

"Of course not!" Caroline also stood up and started pacing around her office. "I know my daughter, okay? I know she's the complete opposite. She’s kind and thoughtful, I know that sometimes she cares too much even for her own good. I know she's  _ good _ . She could never be him" 

"So?"

Caroline stopped her pacing and defeatedly threw her arms in the air. "I'm just saying that so much magic, so much power, so much disposition…" She trailed off. "I'm not afraid of Josie, I'm afraid of what  _ this _ could do to her" 

"What do you mean?" Bonnie tilted her head and pursed her lips.

"The only other siphoner we've ever met with these same abilities is him. That's the only reference we have on this" She put a hand on her forehead, trying to soothe the tension in her eyebrow. "So you see why I worry?"

The room stayed in silence for quite a while after that, Caroline’s words sinking in and making themselves heavier the longer the silence lingered. 

Bonnie sat down on top of Caroline's desk, looking at a framed selfie of the twins, Caroline and Alaric. Her focus solely on Josie. "The fact that they have the same abilities doesn't mean anything" Bonnie muttered, making Caroline turn around and tilt her head.

"He used his abilities to create chaos and torture because he's a sociopath, Care’’ She added. ‘’He's evil. That's just how he is, so he used his magic that way" 

Caroline nodded, letting Bonnie’s words be her reminder of what she already knew and allowing her chest to release some of the tension that was stopping her from breathing properly. 

"Josie's kind, thoughtful, caring and she uses her magic that way’’ Bonnie continued. ‘’You know? When she first told me about her abilities, it was past midnight and she woke me up with a phone call. She was so worried about all the colors she could see so she thought she was a freak’’ 

Caroline furrowed her eyebrows, once again concerned about her daughter. 

‘’But I told her she was anything but, that she was amazing and that this was a gift. She grew up with people that loves, supports and accepts her for who she is…’’ Bonnie trailed off and looked at the ground. ‘’He didn’t.’’ She shrugged. ‘’So if Josie’s magic keeps on growing, which it will, it’ll only grow to reflect the person she is’’

Caroline nodded and sadly smiled, coming to a conclusion she was certain that she didn’t like but it had to be necessary. ‘’We won’t make her another inhibitor’’ 

‘’Thank god’’ Bonnie chuckled. 

‘’...But, we’re not doing any good either by-’’ She was interrupted by a knock on the door followed by Alaric poking his head in. ‘’Ah, good. I was looking for you a while ago’’ 

Alaric fully opened the door then and stepped inside, closing it after him and looking at Caroline with a confused expression. ‘’What’s this about?’’

‘’Josie’’ Caroline explained. 

Alaric walked to the sofa and sat straighter, leaning in to fully pay attention now. 

‘’-As I was saying to Bonnie, she doesn’t need another inhibitor. It’s already getting worse with the one she currently has on and-’’ 

‘’Is it?’’ Alaric tilt his head, confused once again.

‘’Yes’’ Caroline stated as if it was the most obvious thing right now. ‘’She’s having panic attacks when she takes it off and is hit by all of it coming to her too strong and too fast to handle’’

‘’How do you know this?’’ Alaric asked, crossing his arms and furrowing his brow. 

Caroline rolled her eyes. ‘’She told us. Haven’t you been paying attention?’’ She snapped at him with a faked sweetness before going back to her previous idea. ‘’So I was thinking on maybe making her not wear it at all?’’

Alaric abruptly stood up. ‘’What?’’

Caroline glanced at Bonnie for help, but they both were looking at her as if Caroline had gone mad, maybe she had?

Well then...

‘’It’s something Bonnie said...’’ She glanced at Bonnie again before continuing. ‘’Josie’s surrounded by people that love and support her unconditionally’’ She shot a glare at Alaric, as if wanting to remind him of that fact. ‘’The other day when we went for coffee, Josie thought we were treating her like a problem that needs to be fixed. Like an issue… I don’t want my daughter to ever feel that way again if I can help it. By making her wear the inhibitor we’re just making her believe that she’s a problem, that her magic is unwanted and unaccepted and the inhibitor is how we deal with it...’’

_ ‘’Do you think we need to make her a stronger inhibitor? Block them out?’’ _ She remembered what she had asked and Josie’s panicked and distrustful eyes when she heard her mom’s question, looking at Caroline with disappointment written on her face. 

Then, her solution to all of this couldn’t be any more clear.

Out of the corner of her eyes she could see Alaric furrowing more and more his brow and Bonnie agreeing with her by nodding her head.

‘’-How we block them out… So I don’t want her to keep wearing it anymore’’ She finished, taking her glass of whiskey and emptying it in one sip. God knew she needed it.

‘’I don’t like this idea’’ Alaric shook his head. ‘’The inhibitor is the only thing protecting her from absorbing unwanted energy. Do you remember how much drained and exhausted she was when she inevitably absorbed other people’s energies? Their emotions? She wasn’t herself’’

‘’So by blocking them all out we’re protecting her?’’ Bonnie stepped in. ‘’Every time that Josie gets hit and drowned by energy waves so strong that make her have panic attacks and throw up, we’re protecting her?’’ She somberly chuckled. ‘’I’m sorry, maybe we were protecting her a while ago when she needed it, but that’s not protection anymore’’ She drew her eyes to Caroline. ‘’We’re limiting her’’ 

‘’You don’t have to agree with it’’ Caroline turned to Alaric. ‘’Not right away at least’’ She added more to herself before searching for Alaric’s eyes’. ‘’But I’m  _ not _ making my daughter believe she’s a problem and burden to us’’

Alaric huffed and turned around, he poured a glass of whiskey and sat on the sofa before looking at Caroline and Bonnie again, an annoyed expression on his face. ‘’And how do you plan on taking things from now on without her wearing her bracelet?’’ 

Goddamn, how much Caroline hated that expression but she just shrugged and smiled, her confidence growing back up. ‘’We’ll teach her’’ 

Alaric raised his eyebrows, amused. ‘’Yeah? Who’s going to teach her? As far as I know, the only other siphoner like this is locked up in a prison world and even if he weren’t, I wouldn’t want him near Josie’’

Caroline glanced at Bonnie, a question on her face but Bonnie just innocently smiled. 

‘’I can think of someone who might’’ She shrugged, standing up from the desk and walking towards the coffee table where she had left her phone earlier.

\---

‘’So, how do you do it?’’ Hope asked, her blue eyes looking even lighter.

It was well past curfew now but both of them absolutely did not care. 

Josie was starting to come to the conclusion that having her parents as headmasters wasn’t as threatening as it seemed when she was younger. Alaric hardly ever paid attention to her anymore and Caroline was almost never home. Even if she had been home for the past weeks, it still didn’t feel like a threat to break curfew now or even get caught. 

Josie was sure that she wouldn’t even bat an eye if they got caught past curfew outside of the school.

Besides, how could she even care about something so insignificant as curfew when she was once again sitting at the dock in front of Hope?

After Josie retreated her hands from Hope’s and ending whatever energy that was flowing through them by putting on her bracelet again, Hope decided that she wasn’t done for the night just yet and asked Josie to follow her after standing up and heading to the woods as if she knew exactly her way through it. Maybe she did, considering this was Hope’s chosen woods whenever she wanted to wolf out. 

So that’s what got her to the dock, sitting in front of the Mikaelson girl still staring at her with that marveled expression on her face. As if she couldn’t quite believe yet. Their positions resembled the way they were sitting on the sofa a few minutes ago and that made Josie shyly smiled, while back then Hope’s attention was on recalling a memory from the past and being mostly dazed by it... Right now it seemed that the tribrid’s full, undivided attention was on Josie and honestly, Josie would be lying if she said that it wasn’t making her way too nervous to easily handle.

‘’I don’t exactly know’’ She tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear and then slightly shrugged, looking away. ‘’I just figured it out’’

Josie could see Hope warily eyeing the bracelet before she drew her eyes back to Josie’s. ‘’I want to try something. May I?’’ She signaled to the bracelet with a nod. 

Josie extended her wrist in front of Hope, looking straight at her and trying to swallow the lump in her throat. Had she even been this nervous before? She didn’t think so.

Hope carefully took Josie’s hand and lightly wrapped her own around it while the other started to play with her bracelet once again, examining it. ‘’This is nice’’ She admired it, turning it around. ‘’Who gave this to you?’’

‘’My aunt’’ Josie said. ‘’Bonnie’’

Hope bit her lip and looked at Josie again, as if asking for permission to unclip it. Josie slowly nodded and took a deep breath, holding it while Hope unclipped the bracelet and only letting it go as the energy waves were lightly getting to her.

There was something about the dock that was always calming to her, as if she had stumbled upon some secret and sacred place made only for the faithful, for the believers of some unknown force that rules the universe or something like that, Josie didn’t quite know how to put it into words, but she only knew that the dock’s energy was too pure. 

Once her vision cleared and she could see the white mist of the dock and forest, her attention shifted to Hope, admiring how her aura was still glimmering. She smiled, her eyes taking every inch of Hope’s colors.

‘’I can’t feel it’’’ Hope said, confused. She adjusted her hold on Josie’s hand but still, her brow furrowed further. ‘’Are you doing something?’’

Josie frowned. ‘’I’m not... ‘’ Then realization hit her. She hadn’t been actively transferring it to Hope even if Hope was still loosely holding her hand. Maybe she needed to want to transfer it? ‘’Hold on, let me try something’’ 

Josie closed her eyes and did the same thing she did back in the Old Mill: Sensing the dock’s signature energy and focusing on the weight and heat of Hope’s hand on hers, wanting to share it, wanting her to feel it as well. 

She opened her eyes, watching how Hope’s eyes widened and she held her breath, her eyes tracing every part of the dock. Josie thought she was probably seeing the white mist. 

‘’What about now?’’ Josie muttered.

‘’Everything’s so… delicate’’ She said, sighing, still looking around. ‘’What does the white mist mean? It’s not a normal mist, it’s more like… Angelic?’’ She raised her eyebrows in confusion and Josie couldn’t help but think she looked so cute being so.

‘’It kinda is angelic’’ Josie explained, staring intently at Hope while she was still looking and studying the mist. ‘’It means that this place is directly receiving too much energy from a pure source. That source, of course, is nature. Everything that deeply belongs to nature or is connected to a powerful, divine source, has a white mist all around it’’ 

Hope turned to look at her, her eyes impossibly lighter. ‘’Like in the bayou?’’ Her voice was small and careful. 

Josie squeezed Hope’s hand in reassurance. ‘’Like in the bayou’’ She repeated, nodding. ‘’What exactly did you see or sense that day?’’

‘’Uh…’’ She cleared her throat and weakly smiled. Josie immediately knew that it was a sore subject for her. 

‘’I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me anything about it if you don’t want to’’ She was quick to add.

‘’No, no- It’s okay’’ She weakly smiled again, not making eye contact. Hope cleared her throat and licked her lips. ‘’I don’t know, but somehow I’m getting the feeling that you’re silently actually asking me to completely trust you?’’ Her cheeks turned red at the admission. 

‘’You are?’’ Now it was Josie’s time to be confused. 

_ Wait, what? _

‘’Yeah’’ She narrowed her eyes in concentration. ‘’And now you’re confused… as to why, aren’t you?’’ She said with a full blown smile. 

Josie blinked, a lump making itself known in her throat.  _ Oh god _ , could Hope also be getting people emotions as well? That was bad.  _ Bad. _

Her smile turned into giggles. ‘’Now you’re nervous’’ More giggles. ‘’Why are you nervous?’’ 

Josie pouted and looked away. ‘’Stop. You’re having way too much fun with this’’ 

‘’Why am I getting these emotions? They’re not mine, how do I know how you’re feeling if I concentrate enough?’’ She narrowed her eyes again, Josie noticed the faint blush in her cheeks. 

‘’Because I can do that’’ Josie cleared her throat. ‘’I can sense people’s emotions, feelings, auras if I concentrate on it. So I guess that you can as well if I’m-’’ She squeezed Hope’s hand again. ‘’Transferring it to you’’

Hope nodded and looked at their hands. They weren’t intertwined, they were just softly laying one top of the other. ‘’You’re not siphoning from me’’ She observed, still looking at their hands.

‘’No, I’m-’’ She was cut off when she felt Hope carefully caressing the inside of her palm. Her fingers slowly tracing the lines of her palms. ‘’-not. I figured it was kind of the opposite of siphoning. I don’t want to take from you, I want you to take from me’’ She said, her cheeks reddened at her own statement but Hope only chuckled.

Hope suddenly shot her head up and tilted it, brow furrowing again. ‘’Wait, auras?’’ She asked. 

Josie stared blankly at her. Huh?

‘’Huh?’’

‘’You said auras’’ She raised her eyebrows.

‘’Uh, yeah…’’ Josie cleared her throat. ‘’Do you know what those are?’’ Hope stared at her as if saying  _ duh. _ ‘’Right, well I can see auras too’’

‘’Teach me’’ Hope said, tracing Josie’s face with her eyes, her fingers still caressing her palms. 

Josie swallowed. ‘’Right, uh…’’

‘’What?’’

‘’It might seem a little bit difficult the first time. You’ve got to concentrate… on me and only me’’ Her heart was picking up speed and Josie was only hoping for Hope to not be concentrating on emotions right now cause that might be embarrassing. ‘’Then after a while, you’ll probably see some layers of color around me. You should be able to see maybe three or four layers?’’ She frowned. ‘’If you can’t see that many it’s okay, with time you see more layers though so no pressure’’

Hope raised an eyebrow, Josie could sense how her attitude had changed as if letting her know that she accepted the challenge. She didn’t expect less from the tribrid, of course Hope would take this as a challenge. 

Hope redirected her eyes to Josie’s, looking straight at them with her brow furrowed. Josie was sure she might have a heart attack any second now with the way that her heart was beating if she kept staring at those impossibly light blue eyes. And while she was at it, Josie took the time to trace Hope’s facial feature with her eyes, from her jawline to rosy lips to her flushed cheeks and finally her eyes again. 

‘’Stop’’ Hope whispered, her voice breathy. Josie tilted her head. ‘’I can’t concentrate if you keep doing that’’ 

‘’Doing what?’’ She innocently asked, feeling her entire face oddly hot.

She pointedly looked at Josie. ‘’Close your eyes. You’re not helping’’ She commanded in a voice that let Josie know that it wasn’t up for discussion. 

Josie smirked and closed her eyes, biting her lips after. She knew she was being stared at and it was making her heart go crazy, the fact that Hope was absentmindedly still tracing lazy patterns on her palm didn’t help her case. 

‘’I knew what auras were, I never thought I’d be able to actually see them’’ She heard Hope muttering after a few minutes. Josie opened her eyes to see Hope with her own eyes being glazed over. ‘’You shine in yellow, pink and green’’ She added with a dumbfound smile. ‘’I can see three layers’’ She raised an eyebrow. 

‘’Nice’’ Josie smiled. ‘’What’s my dominant color?’’ She teased.

‘’Right now? Pink’’ Hope easily answered, tracing Josie with her eyes but Josie knew she was actually looking at the colors. ‘’What does pink mean?’’

‘’ _ Right now _ ?’’ Josie asked, swallowing. Hope just nodded. 

_ Shit.  _

‘’Um…’’ Ah damn, why did it have to be pink? ‘’Well pink is normally associated with the heart chakra’’ Josie explained.

‘’Uh-huh’’ She motioned for her to continue. 

Josie looked around, avoiding eye contact. ‘’It also has positive qualities of a person that’s always kind or gentle, caring and thoughtful, you know, things associated with the heart. So it’s green. And well, Yellow is just bubbly’’ 

Hope nodded. ‘’Okay and what does it mean right now that that’s the dominant color?’’ Hope insisted, tilting her head.

_ Ah, shit.  _ How could Josie tell her that pink being her dominant color as of now could possibly mean the other qualities of the color pink: longing, romance or even love could enter that context. 

Goddammit. She thought she was keeping her yearning of being too close to the tribrid and holding actual conversations with her, in check. Turns out, she hadn’t and there was little to nothing to cover it up. Maybe she could lie and hope for the best? Or perhaps just avoid it altogether?

‘’Want to try something else?’’ Josie said instead, hoping for Hope not to notice the abrupt change. She stopped playing with Josie’s hand and Josie immediately missed it, even though her hand was still on top of hers’.

Hope frowned but before she could say anything else, Josie pushed them both from the edge of the dock. 

Darkness and the pressure of the water immediately surrounded her and she held on tighter to Hope’s hand even after they made it to the surface. Hope’s eyes widened and then narrowed the moment she spotted Josie again.

‘’Hey!’’ She complained. 

‘’I’m sorry’’ Josie apologized, not really meaning it, a smile lingering on her lips. ‘’But we’re at the dock. I just couldn’t let it pass’’

‘’Let what pass?’’ Hope asked, frowning. 

‘’Don’t you feel it?’’

‘’Feel what?’’ She whined.

She was getting closer to Josie in the water and when she was close enough, Josie intertwined their hands and closed her eyes, actively putting all of her efforts in transferring it to Hope. All of the water’s raw and unfiltered power. All of its force and mighty.

The moment Hope sensed it, she let out a gasp and furrowed her brow in concentration again. ‘’It feels like a rush of magic, a powerful one’’ She muttered. ‘’Is this how you feel when you siphon from a magical source?’’ Josie nodded, her eyes fixing on her lips for a moment before looking away. ‘’How…’’

‘’I think I told you?’’ She whispered. ‘’Everything that’s directly and deeply connected to nature as its source is way too powerful, way too divine’’ Josie added, swimming a little bit closer now. ‘’Though somehow…’’ She swallowed and before she could lose her nerve: ‘’When I siphoned from you, it felt way too much more powerful than all of this. So figure that one out’’ She smiled and swam away to the dock’s edge, a smile lingering on her face. 

\---

Hope performed a simple spell to dry them off the second they were out of the lake. Josie knew Hope was offended at her for throwing her into the lake in the first place, but she could also tell that Hope was amazed at it and maybe even flustered as well. 

It was all making her heart feel way too unstable. 

She also noticed Hope’s aura colors glimmering even more, the colors looking alive again. Mostly, the ones that expressed her current emotions. Those were lightly shining and Josie couldn’t stop grinning every time she glanced at them whenever she focused. 

‘’Uh, Josie…’’ Hope muttered after a while and Josie glanced at her, biting her lip.

‘’Yeah?’’

They were walking back towards the school, maybe it wasn’t midnight yet but surely it was close enough to be. 

‘’About the bayou-’’ Hope continued with a small voice while putting her hands in the back of her jean pockets. ‘’Thank you’’ She sighed.

‘’What for?’’ Josie stopped walking, cocking her head to the side.

She had yet to put her bracelet back on and they were almost at the entrance of the school now. Josie saw some lights on through the glazed windows, which seemed weird to her but her attention was solely on Hope. 

Hope also stopped and turned around. ‘’This might sound kind of weird but that night, I think…’’ She trailed off and looked away. ‘’I think I sense my parent’s energies?’’ She shrugged. ‘’I don’t know, you know when you’re so accustomed to someone that you just know they’re behind you or next to you without you having to confirm it by looking at it?’’ 

Josie nodded and sadly smiled, looking how Hope was starting to nervously fidget with her rings.

‘’Well, that night when the wolves were howling, I saw the same white mist surrounding the bonfire. And everything felt tense and heavier and I could’ve sworn I felt them… hugging me?’’ She slightly shivered. ‘’I don’t know but um, thank you- for that’’ She looked away before focusing her eyes on the floor. 

Josie carefully walked up to her and even more carefully put her hands on top of Hope’s fidgeting ones. Trying to convey calmness and tranquility with her touch. Hope looked at her through her eyelashes and Josie’s heart stopped for a moment. So much blue should be illegal. 

‘’It’s okay’’ She reassured her, squeezing her hold before letting go. 

Hope took a deep breath and then nodded. ‘’Oh and for the record’’ She sighed before smiling adorably. ‘’I don’t know why exactly, we haven’t been really friendly with each other before, but uh-’’ She swallowed, her cheeks flushing. ‘’I do trust you’’

‘’I trust you too’’ Josie smiled, staring intently at Hope. Noticing how flustered and nervous she was. 

Interesting. 

‘’We should probably-’’ Hope said, awkwardly signaling the entrance of the school with her thumb. 

Josie blinked out of her dazed and nodded. ‘’Ah right, yeah. Wouldn’t want to get caught by my parents’’ 

Hope chuckled and resumed walking, but when she opened the back entrance of the school (the one she knew it wasn’t protected by alarms because it was designated for her only for whenever she was feeling like wolfing out in the middle of the night, or so she had assured Josie a few minutes ago), she immediately stopped, making Josie abruptly collide with her back. 

‘’What's wrong?’’ Josie asked. 

Hope replied by just nodding to the scene unfolding in front of them.

But Josie felt it more than she saw it actually: Rage, anger, was that betrayal? Disappointment. Wanting to hit her fist over and over again on someone’s nose and don’t stop until her knuckles hurt and they were bleeding. Restlessness. Worry. Excitement.

...Which was what was happening at the moment. Two wolves were fighting, one of them throwing punches mercilessly and the other was a mess of a swollen face and bloody nose. Some people, wolves as well (maybe 5 or 6) were around them, some cheering and others worried out of their minds. 

It was all too much, too many emotions, too many different ones hitting all at once and Josie couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart started racing and her chest felt heavier by the second, making it impossible to breathe. Her vision was a blur of dancing colors. 

She could faintly hear Hope calling her name but all Josie could register was the rage, the anger, the worry and excitement. All different. All blending together. All too strong and making her feel sick to her stomach. 

She tried to move but stumbled upon someone, was that Hope? 

‘’Bracelet’’ Josie weakly muttered. Or at least, tried to. She wasn’t quite sure if she did say the words out loud though. ‘’B-Bracelet’’ She repeated just in case. 

Then, everything stopped spinning and all the emotions and everything else were gone as if switching off a lightbulb. 

\---

It took a while before she could come back to herself though, her vision was still blurred and her heart was beating too fast.

Josie took a deep breath, tightly shutting her eyes closed. Wait, was she on a sofa? How did she get there? 

‘’...-Obviously not okay’’

‘’... -To take it off for good’’ 

‘’-Have to learn.... -Not happening again…-’’

Josie could hear muffled voices but her brain was still too foggy to function. Slowly, she opened her eyes and turned her head, spotting her mom pacing back and forth, her dad was around as well and her aunt Bonnie was sitting a few feet from her, watching Josie carefully with concerned eyes.

‘’Hi’’ Josie offered sleepily but then she frowned and scanned her eyes over the place again. They were at her mom’s office. How did she get there, and most importantly, where was Hope? ‘’Where’s Hope?’’ 

‘’She left a while ago’’ Bonnie said. ‘’We had to send her back to her room, it was getting too late’’

But before she could ask her aunt more questions, she felt herself being suffocated by her mom’s hug and then, she had Caroline looking at her with a scolding expression. 

‘’You had us worried!’’ She frowned. ‘’Thank goodness we heard about the fight and came down the moment you and Hope were getting into the school. Also, what were you doing outside the school way past curfew? Josie! You know the rules! No getting out of the school past curfew! You’re my daughter. You have to set the example for the other students so you can’t be the first one out to break them!’’ She sighed and crushed Josie into another hug again. 

Caroline let her go after a little while and Josie sighed, still feeling kind of weak and leaning into her mom’s side. 

‘’But I’m glad you’re okay now’’ Caroline added. ‘’There’s something we need to talk to you about’’


End file.
